Books read - July 2011 + Pick of the Month

Quicksilver (Looking Glass Trilogy, #2; Arcane Society, #11) by Amanda Quick
Epitaph Road by David Patneaude
Bumped (Bumped #1) by Megan McCafferty
Flying Blind: The Dragon Diaries by Deborah Cooke
The Soldier (Duke's Obsession, #2) by Grace Burrowes
Eona: The Last Dragoneye (Eon, #2) by Alison Goodman
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
The Secret Life of Damien Spinelli by Carolyn Hennesy
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5) by George R.R. Martin


My pick of the month is a continuation of June's Top Pick.

I feel lucky finding the series this late (I can't go through another Jean Auel debacle) and there are still two more books to go - hopefully they will be released within a few years and yes I know George RR Martin is not my bitch - thank you Neil Gaiman!

1. A Game of Thrones - August 1996
2. A Clash of Kings - November 1998
3. A Storm of Swords - August 2000
4. A Feast for Crows - October 2005
5. A Dance with Dragons - July 2011
6. The Winds of Winter (Forthcoming)
7. A Dream of Spring (Forthcoming)

Books read - June 2011 + Pick of the Month

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2) by George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3) by George R.R. Martin
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) by George R.R. Martin
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The End of the Line by Angela Cerrito
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan
Hit List (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #20) by Laurell K. Hamilton
When Passion Rules by Johanna Lindsey
Eve by Iris Johansen
Passion (Fallen, #3) by Lauren Kate

My pick of the month is George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.


I hadn't heard of the series until HBO announced they would be adapting the first book, "A Game Of Thrones" and it seemed like every forum I was on totally geeked out. So of course I planned on watching and the day before the first episode, some moron on one forum made a comment with a major spoiler in it. ARG!
Even in forums with a threat of banning in place if people posted spoilers, people made mistakes - so I bought the books from Amazon; the 4-book boxed set. (I only mentioned the box set because of a funny error in the 3rd book where some men threatened to rape the "windows".)
I loved the books, each book is unlike any fantasy book I've read but I had no idea the series wasn't finished. ARG!
So go read the books or watch HBO because you won't get any spoilers from me.

Book five: "A Dance with Dragons" by George R.R. Martin will be released July 12, 2011.

Books read - May 2011 + Pick of the Month

This is so frustrating - I have to reset my password everytime I try to log on and I'm so far behind on posting...

Angelfire (Angelfire, #1) by Courtney Allison Moulton
Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin
Aftertime (Aftertime, #1) by Sophie Littlefield
Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain
The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinks
Red Glove (Curse Workers #2) by Holly Black
Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Dragon's Oath by Nicole Ash
Romancing the Stone (short story) by Nicole Ash
WWW: Wonder (#3) by Robert J. Sawyer
Timeless (Timeless, #1) by Alexandra Monir
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin

For May I'm going to choose Rotters by Daniel Kraus as my top pick simply because it was the most unforgettable book I've read in awhile. It sticks with you the way a stench does no matter how many times you try and clean the smell out. Only Rotters does it in a good way.

Books read - April 2011 + Pick of the Month

Vesper (Deviants, #1) by Jeff Sampson
The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel
The Iron Witch (The Iron Witch, #1) by Karen Mahoney
Numbers (Numbers #1) by Rachel Ward
The Chaos (Numbers #2) By Rachel Ward
Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens
Entwined by Heather Dixon
When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster
City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4) by Cassandra Clare

Instead of a top pick, I'm going with my biggest disappointment.
The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children #6) by Jean M. Auel

This was not the book I expected and from the reviews I read at Goodreads and Amazon I know I'm not alone with my views.
I wonder if this was the series a younger Jean Auel had intended to write 30 years ago. I hope so; I want to believe she is satisfied with her work and doesn't care what anyone else thinks even with the review I wrote here.
I wish her well.

Books read - March 2011 + Pick of the Month

Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain (re-read)
Poisoned Kisses by Stephanie Draven
Moonlight Medusa by Stephanie Draven (short story)
Empty by Suzanne Weyn
Solid by Shelley Workinger
The Iron Queen (Iron Fey, #3) by Julie Kagawa
Secrets and Shadows (13 to Life, #2) by Shannon Delany
After Twilight: Walking with the Dead by Travis Adkins
Subject Seven by James A. Moore
Throat by R.A. Nelson
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
So Shelly by Ty Roth
Hidden Away (KGI #3) by Maya Banks
Lost It by Kristen Tracy
Live Wire (Myron Bolitar, #10) by Harlan Coben
Wither (Chemical Garden, #1) by Lauren DeStefano
Miss Hildreth Wore Brown by Olivia deBelle Byrd
Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier - this is a fun adventure book where your survival depends on the choices you make. (I lived but I was left in a precarious position.)


My pick of the month, is Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien.
I thought Z for Zachariah was a new release and was surprised to find it was published posthumously in 1973. I apparently read about the film adaptation that was supposed to have gone in production this year but I can't find any more information about it except, according to trivia on IMDb, it was #26 on the Hollywood Blacklist in 2009.
It was made into a 2 hour episode for the BBC TV series, "Play For Today" in 1984. (You can find it on YouTube).

Summary by Goodreads:

There is no one left alive. I know, because after the war ended, and all the telephones went dead, my family went to see what was happening. They never came back...
Ann Burden is sixteen and, as far she she knows, the only person left in the world. The nuclear radiation that destroyed the rest of the world has not touched the valley where she lives, and so she has remained, surviving as best she knows how, for the past year.

The smoke from a distant campfire shatters Ann's solitude. Someone else is still alive, and making his way toward the valley: John Loomis, a scientist, protected from the radiation by a "safe-suit." He asserts his will almost immediately. And as his behavior becomes more and more extreme - finally culminating in violent confrontation - Ann must choose how she will live, in a world unlike any she has known.

Books read - February + Pick of the Month

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
XVI by Julia Karr
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
The Eyes of Kid Midas by Neal Shusterman
Over the Moon by Diane Daniels
Trapped by Michael Northrop
Gentlemen by Michael Northrop
The King’s Dragon by Carolyn Jewel (short story)
Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver
The Thirteenth Chime (Sense of Truth, #1) by Emma Michaels
Sapphique (Incarceron, #2) by Catherine Fisher

Since I already wrote a review for Delirium, I think I'll choose Trapped by Michael Northrop as my pick of the month.
I enjoy survival stories, probably because I would most likely be the first to die for some ditzy reason.
The story revolves around a snowfall turning into a live or die situation for seven teenagers stuck inside their high school.
The suspense starts early and builds throughout making you shiver (bad pun) and although it ends rather abruptly, it delivers a fast paced and compelling story.

Summary by Goodreads:

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive.
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision.

Books read - January + Pick of the Month

The Countess by Rebecca Johns
The Mark by Marilyn Bunderson
Stepping Stones By Carol Lynne
Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner
Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) by Kami Garcia
Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2) by Kami Garcia
Z by Michael Thomas Ford
Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Hunger (Horsemen of the Apocalypse #1) by Jackie Kessler
Ember - Bettie Sharpe
The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, #1) by Bree Despain
The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine, #2) by Bree Despain
Siren Song by Stephanie Draven
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
The Heir by Grace Burrowes
The Bar Code Tattoo (Bar Code, #1)by Suzanne Weyn
Bar Code Rebellion (Bar Code, #2) by Suzanne Weyn

My pick of the month was chosen by the fact that it surprised me. I love that! I read several wonderful books but this one really caught me off guard. Later I saw a trailer for a movie adaptation (an American remake). Now I really want to want the original Swedish release. I'm curious if the US movie will include the 'twist'.

The book, if you haven't already guessed is: Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist


Summary by Goodreads:
It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .

Books read - December + Pick of the Month

Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker #1) by Jenna Black
Lockdown (Furnace, #1) by Alexander Gordon Smith
Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Autumn by David Moody
The Shifter (Healing Wars, #1) by Janice Hardy
Blue Fire (Healing Wars, #2) by Janice Hardy
Matched (Matched #1) by Ally Condie
Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry
Nevermore (Nevermore, #1) by Kelly Creagh
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse by Martin H. Greenberg, Robert Silverberg
Rot & Ruin (Benny Imura, #1) by Jonathan Maberry
No Place to Run by Maya Banks
Beasts and BFFs (13 to Life prequel) by Shannon Delany - short story

Plus, my pick of the month is Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.
A well-written coming of age story filled with zombies.
Told from the point of view of fifteen year Benny, this is one of the best zombie driven dystopian stories I've read since "The Forest of Hands And Teeth". There is more gory and violence but it fits the plot.

Summary by Goodreads:
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Pick of the Month - November

Picking a favorite this month was a tough one because I enjoy all of Lee Child's Jack Reacher stories. He is one of my favorite characters along with Temperance Brennan (she was only mentioned by name in Virals by Kathy Reichs).

This month I read a lot of books with sequels and although I'm looking forward to the next installments to all of them, I decided to go with one that didn't continue with a sequel so my top pick is: Room by Emma Donoghue

This chilling story was conceived after the author heard about the Fritzl case and five-year-old Felix.
It really blew me away - I highly recommend it.

Summary by Goodreads:

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

Pick of the Month - October

After looking over the list of the books I read in October - my top pick is: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

I love changeling type stories; The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue could almost be the companion piece to this one.
(My favorite is Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde)
The interesting thing about The Replacement is the family and Mackie know he is a replacement and the story relates to how they adjust and what it means to be human.



Summary by Goodreads:
Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

Pick of the Month - September

After looking over the list of the books I read in September - my top pick(s) are a tie between two books.
Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare and Firelight (Draki #1) by Sophie Jordan



I enjoyed Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series so I knew I'd like Clockwork Angel.
Through twitter, when I mentioned I would love a clockwork angel necklace like the one Tessa wears, Cassandra sent me an url to an Esty shop that sell them.

Goodreads summary: Clockwork Angel
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa.
As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.


I found Firelight (Draki #1) by Sophie Jordan to be a delightful surprise with very unique characters and a brillant and fast paced plot. I will definitely be reading the sequel, "Vanish".

Goodreads summary: Firelight
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Pick of the Month - August

After looking over the list of the books I read in August - my top pick(s) are a tie between two books.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) by Pittacus Lore



I've looked forward to "Mockingjay" right after I closed the cover to "Catching Fire". Mockingjay lived up to all my expectations and surpassed a few.
Goodreads summary:
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

"I Am Number Four" was a delightful surprise. I don't remember where I first heard of it but I truly enjoyed it. My review is here.
Goodreads summery:
Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Pick of the Month - July

After looking over the list of the books I read in July - my top pick would have to go to "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman.
This haunting book will stay with you for awhile. Shusterman takes an unbelievable tale of harvesting body parts from kids and makes it realistic.
There is one chapter that you simply can not stop reading no matter how much you might try.



Summary by Goodreads: "In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them.

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive."