Top Ten Tuesday: Most Unique Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme of lists hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is the top ten books that we've read that we think are the most unique. The books that I chose are not necessarily unique as in there are no others like them, but I definitely thought they were unique when I first read them.  Or they are standouts in their genres.  

1. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan: I don't read very many zombies books but The Forest of Hands and Teeth stood out to be because it's all about how people have survived all these years later.  Even though, for me, the series went a little downhill, the first book is pretty great!

2. I Know it's Over by CK Kelly Martin: I Know it's Over is a contemporary novel about teenage pregnancy and abortion told from the guy's perspective.  Seeing how a guy feels in a situation like this is what really made this novel stand out for me. 

3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman: I have certainly never read a book like this before ever! Talk about a completely new twist on abortion and what makes a person's life worthwhile.  The unwinding scene is probably one of the creepiest scenes I've ever read! 

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I chose The Hunger Games for this list because I really believe it was unique when it was first released.  And even though other books try as they might, there is still nothing like The Hunger Games.

5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins: There are a lot of books out there that are written in free verse but Identical was the first one that I've read so, to me, it stands out as being unique. 

6. Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman: I really love this series and what makes it unique is the mixed media it uses to tell the story.  While you're reading the book you'll get to parts where you have to go online to the website it gives you and put in the password that they also give you and watch the video. And you have to watch the videos because they are so important to the story. The story is pretty creepy and scary.

7. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: These books are so unique and have so many elements that normally would be really weird but somehow they really work! Cyborgs, moon people and fairy tale characters! It's so awesome! 

8. Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano: Perfect Ruin takes place in a community that is in the clouds. In. The. Clouds. It is so good! I'm so excited to see what happens next for these cloud people. 

9. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: To even try to explain this book would make me sound crazy but I've truly never read any book like it.  

10. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom: I pretty much cried through every page of this book and even though I read it ten years ago, it still stays with me. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring 2014 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme of lists hosted by The Brooke and The Bookish. 

Here are the top 10 books on my spring 2014 TBR:

1. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: I loved Shadow and Bone so I really don't know why I've waiting so long to read the second one! But the third is coming out soon so I really need to get on it! 

2. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin: I started reading this book last year but for some reason I just wasn't in the mood.  But now I really need to read it to be ready for the third and final book!

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: I've been wanting to get into this series for a really long time. And this spring is when I'm going to do it! I've just heard it's so awesome! 

4. Misborn by Brandon Sanderson: This is going to be the epic fantasy series that I get into this spring! Bring on a whole new world! 

5. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian: Loved Burn for Burn and it's about time that I get on Fire with Fire! Can't wait to read more about these girls' revenge. 

6. Fracture by Teri Terry: Slated was, surprisingly, a pretty great dystopian and I'm really interested to see what happens next for Kayla!

7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I want to read this book SO. BAD! I've heard the most amazing thing about it and I need to seriously make some time for it! And the book itself is just beautiful! 

8-10. The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima: I've read The Demon King and it was really great! I plan on reading the next three books this spring because it's a great YA epic fantasy series that I'm so glad I've finally picked up! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Why I love Being a Blogger/Reader

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

This is such a great topic because I love talking about blogging! And I love talking about reading! When I first started this blog I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was already a reader and I was looking for some sort of outlet that I couldn't find in my real life. And then I discovered book blogs. I soon realized that I had only skimmed the surface of what it means to be a book blogger. There are so many great aspects of being a blogger/reader and here are a few of my favorites!

Blogging

1. Books: I love being a blogger because I love books! I wouldn't be here if I didn't! There are so many great books out there and even though I've been at this reading/blogging thing for 4 years now, I've only discovered the tip of the iceberg of the awesome books out there!

2. Community: I love this community! I have met some really great friends (people I can actually hang out with in real life) who have the same interests as me (not just books) and we get along famously! They literally keep me sane and help me realize I’m not the only crazy book lover, knitter, cat lady, BBC watcher and all-around introvert out there. 

3. Reviewing: Even though I often complain that I have to write a review about this book or that, I really do love posting reviews and hearing my reader’s feedback! I especially love it when I recommend a book that I love to people and they come back to me saying how much they loved it and read it because of my review! I feel like I’m making a little bit of a difference in the book world (even if it’s just a tiny, tiny bit)!

4. Recommendations: I love getting recommendation from other book bloggers. They can see the books that I've read or am currently reading and say, “Hey, I see you've read and LOVED The Girl of Fire and Thorns; you’ll probably really like Throne of Glass!” Hey guess what?! I DID!!! I wouldn't know even half the books I've read if it wasn't for other bloggers giving me recommendations. 

5. Creativity: I love trolling blogs, checking out their titles and blog designs and seeing if they made it themselves or had someone else make it. There is so much creativity out there among book bloggers, its mind blowing! Some bloggers are absolutely fabulous at writing code and making the cutest designs. Then there’s me and I have no patience whatsoever when it comes to the tech and the intricacies of blog design. And that’s okay too!

Reading:

6. Books: I love being a reader because I love books! I love building my TBR, seeing what books are coming out this summer, finally buying that coveted next book in a series I love and just looking at them on my shelves! I love holding them in my hands and skimming my fingers across the beautiful covers! I LOVE books!

 

7. Escape: I’m not saying that I have some horrible life where I need books to escape from it (not that escape is a bad thing). I just think being human is boring and I would much rather spend my afternoon in the magic of a fantasy novel with dragons and wizards and a world that is completely different from my own.

8. Creativity: Authors are so creative! Sometimes I’m just in awe of how they craft these completely new worlds full of details out of their imaginations! It’s crazy!! I love discovering new and old fantasy novels and just losing myself in the magical storytelling.

9. Book to movie adaptations: I love a good book to movie adaptation! Harry Potter? The Hunger Games? I even like bad one too. Beautiful Creatures? City of Bones? I love seeing books come to life. I also love that someone has taken the time and the interest to put something I love so much (not Beautiful Creatures; that book was terrible) and put it on the big screen. I love being a fangirl!

 

10. Book Club: Being a part of a book club is a great way to mingle with other readers without having a blog! I love being a part of the book club that I go to and I have read some books that I would never have picked up on my own! It’s definitely one of the highlights of my month!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Most Anticipated 2014 Debuts

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's top ten topic is the 10 most anticipated 2014 debut novels.  I read mostly YA so it wasn't very hard to find 10 debut YA novels that I'm eagerly anticipating. So in no particular order:

Title: The Murder Complex

Author: Lindsay Cummings

Hitting the Shelves: June 10. 2014

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn't know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Title: Stolen Songbird

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Hitting the Shelves: April 01, 2014

For those who have loved Seraphina and Graceling comes another truly fabulous fantasy...

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

Title: Prisoner of Night & Fog

Author: Anna Blankman

Hitting the Shelves: April 22, 2014

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.
And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

Title: Side Effect May Vary

Author: Julie Murphy

Hitting the Shelves: March 18, 2014

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

Title: Dear Killer

Author: Katherine Ewell

Hitting the Shelves: April 01, 2014

Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.
Rule Two—Be careful.
Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.
Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.
Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.

Title: Sekret

Author: Lindsay Smith

Hitting the Shelves: April 01, 2014

Yulia’s father always taught her that an empty mind is a safe mind. She has to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive in Communist Russia, especially because she seems to be able to read the minds of the people she touches. When she’s captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she’s thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power where she can trust no one.

She certainly can’t trust Rostov, the cruel KGB operative running the psychic program. Or handsome Sergei who encourages her to cooperate with the KGB. Or brooding Valentin who tells her to rebel against them. And not the CIA, who have a psychic so powerful he can erase a person’s mind with his own thoughts. Yulia quickly learns she must rely on her own wits and power to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

Title: Red Rising

Author: Pierce Brown

Hitting the Shelves: January 28, 2014

Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Title: Dorothy Must Die

Author: Danielle Paige

Hitting the Shelves: April 01, 2014

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Title: A Death-Struck Year

Author: Makiia Lucier

Hitting the Shelves: March 04, 2014

For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country--that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest. Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode--and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out?

Title: Love Letters to the Dead

Author: Ava Dellaira

Hitting the Shelves: April 01, 2014

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

I'm so excited for all these books! Some I have ARCs of and others I already have on hold at the library so I don't have to be on a long waiting list! 2014 is going to be a good year!  

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten on my Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

This winter I'm going to try to read the books that I already own and mostly books that I've owned for a while now.  And finish off a couple of the series that I've started.

10. Horde by Ann Aguirre

9. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

8. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

7. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

6. Slated by Teri Terry

5. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

4. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han

3. Unremembered by Jessica Brody

2. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Bonus: The ARC I'm most excited to read this winter is!!!!:

The Taking by Kimberly Derting

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I'd Like to Start but Haven't Yet!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

As I'm sitting here thinking about my list, I've realized that a lot of them are werewolf books! I haven't been feeling werewolf books for a really long time which is probably why I haven't started some of these series yet.

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

The Blood Journals by Tessa Gratton

Sweep by Cate Tiernan

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Medusa Girls by Tera Lynn Childs

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey