Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge

We are more than halfway through the year and I am more than halfway through my goodreads 2013 reading challenge. I decided to challenge myself with reading 60 books this year, At the moment I'm 4% ahead of schedule. I wanted to show off all the books I've read so far. I love looking at the different covers, It shows that I have a wide variety of books that I like to read. Here are all the covers so far...

Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought and check out my good reads account to see reviews of these books.

Books I'm pining for April

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. So I thought I would share with everyone these books and to find out what books you are pining for. I missed out on my November books so enjoy these!

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

There's some good things being said about this book and I can't wait to read it for myself.

Every Day by David Leviathan
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

How amazing does that sound! I haven't read a book that's written only by David so I look forward to it.

Shadows by Paula Weston
It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.

And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

Fast-paced and gripping, Shadows, the first book in the Rephaim series, is a standout paranormal romance for fans of Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare.

I am a fan of both Richelle Mead & Cassandra Clare so I think this will be right up my alley!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

I really enjoyed 'The Scorpio Races" and this is meant to be even better.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

This cover is divine and the story sounds spooky & mysterious....

The Farm by Emily McKay
Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...

This doesn't sound like your typical vampire book and I have a copy of it sitting waiting to be read.

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.

This sounds like a lot of fun! And I adore that cover, it jumps out at you saying 'Read ME!'

Spellcaster by Claudia Gray
When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realizes there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.

Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them.

I haven't read any books by Claudia Gray before but I think this sounds like a great place to start. 

That's it for now, What books are you pining for?

12 Favourite books of 2012

I love reading about which books have captivated people, scared them out of their pants, made them laugh, made them cry or or even feel a bit swoony. Something that I know everyone loves doing is recommending a really great book or even bagging out a book they hated. I also love all these things and what a perfect way to showcase all of that is by sharing with you twelve of my favourite books for 2012. (I thought that it would be nifty to pick 12 as that's also the year's number) I plan on showcasing some books from 2012 that I didn't enjoy all that much in another post later on.

I know I'm really late in posting this but who cares! I'm going to list them from 12 to 1 so you have to scroll down to see my ultimate favourite. Although I have to mention I've cheated a little bit with the amount of books you will see because I have mentioned series, so technically there's more than twelve but oh well!

Number 12

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Number 11

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Number 10

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Number 9

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

Number 8

Juliet by Anne Fortier

Number 7

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Number 6

Purity in Death by J.D Robb & others in the 'In Death' series

Number 5

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Number 4 

Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

Number 3

Then by Morris Gleitzman

Number 2 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Number 1

The Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

If you click on the title it will take you to my book review.

Did you have any favourite books from 2012? I'd love to know what you loved

 

Welcome back!

Bloodlines (Bloodlines # 1) by Richelle Mead

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts

421 pages

Buy it @ Book depository
Released: August 2011

"Blood doesn't lie...

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning..."

Review 

I really, really liked this! I don't care what other people are saying about this, I loved being able to spend some more time in the world of Vampire Academy (well it's sort of Vampire Academy). A lot of people love Rose because she's this hot headed, rule breaker and simply butt kicking awesome. Sydney on the other hand is structured, scientific and doesn't really like to take risks. So I think that's why some people didn't like this as much as the Vampire Academy because they like Rose better than Sydney.

I found it really easy to get back into Richelle Mead's style of writing. I'm not a huge fan of big books but I always find that I don't even notice the length of these books because they are so enjoyable and easy to get sucked into.

What I liked most about Sydney was that she had room to grow. Being an alchemist she has had rules drummed into her about how to feel about Vampires, and that feeling is fear. So it was really cool to see her trying to overcome some of those fears.

Some of our favourite characters are back in this and the main one I loved was Adrian. I'm glad we get to see him so much more in this series. I felt so bad for him at the end of 'Last Sacrifice' that I'm glad we see him start to get over Rose. I have a feeling there may be a romance between Adrian & Sydeny? I hope so!

So now onto the story. I thought the mystery surrounding the tattoos was really interesting although I had an idea of who was behind it, but I didn't have a clue why that person was behind it. I thought this was a great start to a new series with already loved characters and I'm looking forward to reading the next ones.

On the cover

Here I am again with these covers. Although this time I know that's Sydney & Adrian on the front because it looks so much like their description. I wonder what Adrian is looking at though, has Sydney got something in her ear?

What I'm reading next: Dark Star by Bethany Frenette

Last adventure with Rose and the rest of the gang

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) by Richelle Mead
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
594 pages
Buy it @ book depository

They come first.

My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in. I swore it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: The world of the dead won't give you up a second time. Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world.

The dead could finally have me.


Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

Review: Richelle Mead was saving the best for last! This series has been a roller coaster of all sorts of emotions: surprise, excitement, annoyance & lots of laughs. After the huge cliff hanger at the end of the previous book I was looking forward to seeing how this might have ended. Mead did a fantastic job of wrapping up the series with everything tied up in a nice little bow. There was a moment there that I was a bit worried that she was going to go down THAT road (for all people who have read this you may know what I'm talking about) but she didn't, thankfully! 

I listened to this one on Audiobook, unlike all the others which I read. I thought I'd give it a go on Audio to see whether I enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed the story but not the narrator. She did a terrible job of the male voices. Dimitri & Adrian did not sound very good at all, it was very off putting! 

I took a star off only because of the slight predictability of the story and because of poor Adrian. I really like Adrian and thought he was hard done by, even though I knew Dimitri was always the one for Rose.

This series has been so enjoyable and I like that Mead was able to finish it before it got boring. After finishing this I feel content and happy with how everything panned out. I'm looking forward to reading the follow on series 'Bloodlines'. (Mainly because I've been told Adrian is a main character in it)


On the cover: This will be the last Vampire Academy book cover I will look at and wonder who the person on the cover is meant to be portraying... Whoever this chick is she needs to pluck her eyebrows!

What I'm listening to next: The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Have you read this series? What did you think of the ending? 

 

Dimitri or Adrian?

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5)
by Richelle Mead
Rating: 4 out 5 stars

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong...

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever.




Review: Rose has graduated from St Vladimir's and has finally become a guardian, but will she become her best friend Lissa's guardian. In the previous book Rose was in Russia hunting down her beloved Dimitri after he had been turned Strigoi and while she was there she found out that it may be possible to turn someone from Strigoi back to their normal state. In this book Rose is continuing on her quest to find a way to make Dimitri himself again.

I loved the first three books in this series but found the fourth left me wanting. So I gave it a big break in between the fourth and this one. I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this. I had also started to read the graphic novels for this series so it got me back in the mood to start it up again. At the end of the fourth book Rose decides that she should give a relationship with Adrian a go, which I couldn't wait to read about because I liked Adrian as a character. I do really love Dimitri but I didn't think that there was any coming back from being a Strigoi so, I thought it was good that Rose was moving on to Adrian. But that wasn't to be, through the whole book Rose can't seem to decide who she wants to be with. I really felt for Adrian because he is super sweet and so forgiving of Rose. Lissa has become a more likable character for me because she has become a stronger person since she's been using her spirit powers more. It's a bit sad that she only became likable in the second last book, she has always seemed a bit of a weak character to me.

A very unique thing that I really like about these books is the way you read the book in first person from Rose's point of view BUT she can also look through Lissa's eyes at any time (because of their bond) which gives you a third person point of view too. I found this to be a good way to develop the story when Rose may not be there at the time. As your reading the last few chapters and thinking to yourself that it's wrapping up nicely you're thrown a huge curve ball! I was like "WHAAAAA....!!" It left the book with a massive cliffhanger so I'm dying to see how the author is going to wrap up the series. The next book is the last one in the series so it will be very interesting.

In regards to my title of this blog post I won't tell you who Rose does or doesn't choose between hunky Dimitri or sweet Adrian, you will have to read it to find out......

On the cover: Ok, so one thing that really bugs me about these covers is that the people on the covers always look different. The people never look like any of the characters or they're always mixed, So I'm not really sure which character they're representing. I think this is meant to be Lissa & Christian??? But the dude doesn't look anything like Christian to me, so then I think maybe it's Rose & Adrian but then the chick looks nothing like I imagine Rose to look? Confused. Also, this kind of looks like a Mills & Boon novel - luckily it's too thick for people to think it's a Mills & Boon....

What I'm reading next: Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

Have you read this series before? What do you think of the books?

Why hello there pretty book

City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5)

By Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act without Clary. For Calry is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace's soul. Clary is willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?






Review: What can I say about City of Lost Souls. I really wish it hadn’t taken me soooo long to read this because it was really awesome! At the time I was reading this I had lots of nights out and weekends away so I couldn’t snuggle down and enjoy this in a long stint. It didn’t help when each chapter of the book were on average 30 pages! So once I finished one chapter I would get distracted and not pick up the book for another few days. I really enjoy the Mortal Instruments series and this one didn’t let me down. It picks up right where we left off in book Four and takes you on a swoony ride. My My there was so much swoon in this book, we don’t have only one couple to swoon along with but four! There was so much going on (which was a good thing) with so many storylines to follow. They all intertwine with each other so well and keep the fast pace of the story exciting. I think the more and more I read this series the more and more I like Clary as a female character. I haven’t always had such a strong connection to her from the other books but something happened for me in this. I think all the moments she had with Sebastian, and what she was standing up for really pushed her into “Awesome character” for me. I also like Simon a lot more in this one compared to four, I kind of hated when he was turned into a Vampire and now he’s gotten to terms with what he is, not a monster and I like that. Oh and I love all the references to her Infernal Devices series, If you are planning on reading book 4 & 5 of The Mortal Instruments seres without first reading her Infernal Devices series – don’t! There’s some things that you will get better if you read the Infernal Devices first. I can’t go past saying “damn that’s a cliffhanger of an ending”! Cassandra Clare has done a fantastic job with this book, I can not wait to see what adventure I’m taken on next.

On the cover: Awesome is an understatement for this cover. It's truly beautiful! Unfortunetly you cant see how pretty it looks with the above picture. The parts on their bodies that look like they are shiny, they really are shiny! If I hadn't read the first few books, I would still pick this up because its looks really interesting. Also, Clary actually does wear a red dress similar to that in the story so it does show what to expect inside. Oh how I wish this guy on the cover was playing Jace in the movie instead of the actor who is. This is guy is dreamy....

What I'm reading next: Witch & Wizard {Graphic Novel} by James Patterson

What do you think of the cover? Would you read this book based on it's cover?