Book List '12

January
1. Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire 10/10
2. Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest 10/10
3. Stephenie Meyer - The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide 10/10
4. Ally Condie - Matched 8/10
5. Ally Condie - Crossed 8/10
6. Tess Gerritsen - The Silent Girl 8/10
7. Megan McCafferty - Bumped 4/10
8. Rosamund Lupton - Afterwards 10/10 
9. Jon Osborne - Kill Me Once 6/10
10. Veronica Roth - Divergent 10/10
11. Anita Shreve - Testimony 6/10

February
12. Alex Barclay - The Caller 6/10
13. Danny Wallace - Yes Man 8/10
14. John Green - The Fault In Our Stars 10/10
15. Matt Haig - The Radleys 10/10
16. Isaac Marion - Warm Bodies 8/10
17. Eden Maguire - Beautiful Dead: Jonas 4/10
18. Eden Maguire - Beautiful Dead: Arizona 4/10
19. Eden Maguire - Beautiful Dead: Summer 2/10 
20. Eden Maguire - Beautiful Dead: Phoenix 2/10
21. Aimee Bender - The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake 8/10

March
22. Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 8/10
23. S.J. Watson - Before I Go To Sleep 8/10
24. Gayle Forman - If I Stay 10/10 
25. Gayle Forman - Where She Went 8/10
26. Erica Spindler - All Fall Down 8/10
27. Chevy Stevens - Never Knowing 8/10
28. Lee Martin - The Bright Forever 8/10 
29. Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games 10/10
30. Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire 10/10
31. Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay 10/10
32. Charlaine Harris - Grave Sight 10/10
33. Charlaine Harris - Grave Surprise 8/10
34. Charlaine Harris - An Ice Cold Grave 10/10
35. Charlaine Harris - Grave Secret 10/10

April 
36. Cat Clarke - Entangled 4/10
37. Tania Carver - The Surrogate 6/10
38. Beth Revis - Across The Universe 5/5
39. Beth Revis - A Million Suns 4/5
40. Nina LaCour - The Disenchantments 4/5
41. Lauren Oliver - Delerium 4/5
42. Lauren Oliver - Pandemonium 3/5
43. Maggie Stiefvater - The Scorpio Races 5/5 
44. Lauren DeStefano - Wither 4/5
45. Lauren DeStefano - Fever 4/5
46. Nicholas Sparks - The Lucky One 4/5
47. Jill Mansell - Solo 4/5

May
48. Christopher Golden - Zombie: An Anthology Of The Undead 4/5
49. Ruta Sepetys - Between Shades Of Gray 5/5
50. Sarah Dessen - Just Listen 5/5
51. Kimberly Derting - The Body Finder 5/5
52. Kimberly Derting - Desires Of The Dead 4/5
53. Kimberly Derting - The Last Echo 3/5
54. Mira Grant - Feed 5/5

Book Spotlight: Airel by Aaron Patterson & Chris White

Due to the insane amount of stuff on my plate in recent months, I haven't been able to finish Airel in time for review today, however, I do honestly think the book sounds amazing, so I'm going to do a mini spotlight on it instead.

All Airel ever wanted was to be normal, to disappear into the crowd. But bloodlines can produce surprises, like an incredible ability to heal. Then there's Michael Alexander, the new guy in school, who is impossibly gorgeous...and captivated by her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she can hear the sound of pages turning, and another, older story being written. It is the story of an ancient family, of great warriors, of the Sword of Light, and the struggle against an evil so terrible, so far-reaching, that it threatens everything. Airel knew change would be an inevitable part of life. But can she hold on when murder and darkness begin to close in and take away everything she loves? Will she have what it takes when the truth is finally revealed?

Not only is the cover utterly gorgeous, but the synopsis sounds like it'll be a great read!

Guest Post: Emlyn Chand

Did you resolve to read more this year?  Maybe you've dubbed this year as the year you finally start your own book club.  To be successful with either of these goals, you'll need to keep that all-consuming passion for reading alive.  Here are five examples of what NOT to do.

I have been guilty of each and every one of these bibliophile misdeeds. To avoid making these mistakes, it helps to be cognizant of what they are and how they may put-off your love of reading. My list is, of course, not exhaustive. Please feel free to add other ways in which your enthusiasm for the written word has been destroyed or derailed.

1. By taking too long to finish reading a particular book - many a decent book have been utterly destroyed for me simply because I took too long to get through them. Sometimes this is because of a busy work or personal life that interferes with my time that is generally allotted to reading; others it is because I am reading the wrong book.

2. Because of reading the wrong book—what makes a book wrong? Some people say that if a book does not grab you in the first 50 pages that you should give up reading it. I don’t know if I, however, subscribe to an exact number of pages that must be read before giving up. Sometimes books get started a bit late. Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Everything is Illuminated” for example takes a while to get heated up, but once it’s there, this is one of the most incredible books.

3. Through turning your leisure activity into a chore—if reading as a hobby is very important to you, it’s best not to subject yourself to reading materials that can be deemed more as work than pleasure. A classic example of this phenomenon is graduate school. I am not suggesting that you forego higher education to maintain your zeal for the written word; rather i’d like you to understand that you may undergo a 2-, 3- or even 5- year hiatus in this instance.

4. In choosing to miss out on other activities to sit at home and read—so you’re a book-worm that probably means you, like many others who share your passion, are an introvert. That’s great, but don’t use reading as an excuse to miss out on some of the other things life has to offer, like a social life. Don’t get too caught up in the fictional realm that you forget that life exists outside of the pages of a novel!

5. Upon assigning too much meaning to fictional characters—Loved ‘Twilight’ and now find yourself pining for a boyfriend just like Edward Cullen? No man even comes close? Surprise, surprise. Never measure real people up to invented ones, everybody loses. Similarly, if you find a glimmer of someone you know in a villainous character, you may start subconsciously assigning some of the fictional player’s deeds to your real-life loved one. Don’t do it!

 

Blog Tour Notes

THE BOOK:  Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t.  When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider. Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com’s Kindle store or the eBook retailer of your choice. The paperback edition will be available on November 24 (for the author’s birthday).

THE CASH PRIZES:  Guess what? You could win a $100 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That’s right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you’ll be entered into the raffle. I could win $100 too! Please help by voting for my blog in the traffic-breaker poll. To cast your vote, visit the official Farsighted blog tour page and scroll all the way to the bottom. Thank you for your help with that.

THE GIVEAWAYS:  Win 1 of 10 autographed copies of Farsighted before its paperback release by entering the giveaway on GoodReads. Perhaps you’d like an autographed postcard from the author; you can request one on her site.

THE AUTHOR:  Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she’s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit www.emlynchand.com for more info. Don’t forget to say “hi” to her sun conure Ducky!

The Colour Of Death by Michael Cordy

No. of pages: 381
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: In a residential neighbourhood of Portland, Oregon, an unknown young woman uncovers a shocking crime scene by inexplicably sensing the evil within its walls. To the police, she is a mystery. She can’t even tell them her own name. They christen her Jane Doe. Suffering terrifying hallucinations, Jane is assigned to Nathan Fox, a forensic psychiatrist struggling with his own demons. Together they must piece together the jigsaw that is Jane’s identity. Then a sequence of brutal killings terrorizes the city and Fox learns Jane is the only cryptic link between the unrelated victims. To solve the murders, Fox must discard his black and white preconceptions, look beyond the spectrum of normal human experience and confront the dark truth of her past…and his own.

Review: When a young woman breaks into a house and releases several trapped girls being held as slaves, she is hailed a hero. Only one problem though, not only does she not remember how she knew the girls were there, but she doesn't even remember her own name. Christened Jane Doe, she is taken to hospital where she is terrified by vivid hallucinations. Moved swifly to a mental facility, she comes under the care of Nathan Fox, a man troubled himself by the murder of his family when he was a child. Together, Jane and Nathan start to unravel not only the mystery of her identity, but also the sudden spate of murders that seem to somehow link back to Jane.

Having heard of Michael Cordy before, but never having read any of his work, I was very interested to read The Colour Of Death. Not only because I love new authors, but because the synopsis sounded so intriguing! I can honestly say, I have never read anything like this story before, the content was completely new, to me anyway. I loved how you slowly found out about all of the fascinating details about Jane and Nathan, and the secrets they both held, and then how it all tied back to the murders that seem so random. I did figure out some of the ending pretty early on, but that didn't ruin any of the enjoyment or suspence for me. A throughly enjoyable read, and a must for fans of thrillers with a science-y twist! I'm not only looking forward to reading the sequel, but also more books by Michael Cordy in the future.

In My Mailbox (29)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week of incoming books!

So this week I bought just one book:

Linda Fairstein - Death Dance

Teaming up with longtime friends and colleagues, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of a world-famous dancer, who has vanished from the Metropolitan Opera House. Drawn behind the scenes of New York's theatrical community, the team is haunted by ghosts of the dramatic old theatres - and from their own pasts. At the same time, Alex and Mercer are trying to collar a doctor who's been using his extensive knowledge of and access to drugs to overpower women before assualting them.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (35)

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Alyxandra Harvey - Haunting Violet 4/5
Rebecca Lim - Mercy 4/5

At the moment I'm reading:

J.A. Kerley - Little Girls Lost

In the next week I hope to read:

Jane Eagland - Wildthorn
Gabrielle Zevin - Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac