The 10 Best Books I Read in 2014

The end of the year is here and I read a lot of good books over the course of 2014. Even though I'm so excited for all the great books that are being released in 2015, I thought I would take the time and highlight the ten books that I think were especially great!

So there you have it, the ten best books that I read this year! I also wanted to give a few honorable mentions: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, Blackmoore by Julianna Donaldson and Horns by Joe Hill. Here's to looking forward to another great year of awesome book and Happy New Year! 

Waiting on Wednesday (138)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Court of Fives
Author: Kate Elliott
Hitting the Shelves: August 18, 2015

In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott begins a new trilogy with her debut young adult novel, weaving an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.

Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But at night she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best competitors. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between a girl of mixed race and a Patron boy causes heads to turn. When a scheming lord tears Jes's family apart, she'll have to test Kal's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a powerful clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.

Why I want this: I love fantasy and I probably always will so I'm always on the hunt for the next great fantasy series. I don't know if this will be it but I'm willing to read it and try it out. Even though I've never heard of Kate Elliott it seems like she's a pretty well known fantasy writer. 2015 really seems like it's going to be a great year for fantasy! 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2015 Releases I'm Most Excited For

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Brooke and the Bookish.

I know that this week's top ten Tuesday is the ten books I wouldn't mind if Santa brought me this year but I really wanted to talk about the books I'm most excited for in 2015! I guess I missed this topic a few weeks back so I'm going to do it now since the end of the year is close and all.

I probably say this every year but I think 2015 is going to be a great year for books, especially sequels or books continuing in a series!

 

 

 

 

1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer: I'm pretty sure every single fan of the Lunar Chronicles is really excited about this book. Even though I'm sad that we have to wait even longer for Winter, I'm really glad to get a glimpse into Queen Levana's life and see how she became the way she is!

 

2. The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead: I'm so sad to be reading the ending of another Richelle Mead series! I will probably cry big fat tears at the end of this book! It almost feels like the end of this series is like the end of an era.

 

3. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski: The Winner's Curse was one of the best books I read this past year and I cannot wait to see where this series goes! I was totally left on a cliff hanger and I'm so excited to dive back into the beautiful world that Rutkoski has created!

 

4. Half Wild by Sally Green: Half Bad was also one of the best books I read this year and I can't wait to continue the series! I love the world of the witches and I'm really interested to see where Nathan's journey takes him.

 

5. Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews: I kid you not, I read the entire Kate Daniels series in about two month this past year and I was absolutely blown away with how good it is! So, naturally, I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on the next book! Kate and Curran forever!!!!!

 

6. Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil: Gretchen McNeil has become one of my favorite authors and I loved everything about Get Even, the first book in her new mean girls revenge series! Since I love all the mystery and intrigue and the who done it storyline, I can't wait to get back into it.

 

7. Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: I cannot believe this fantastic author has time to write a new fantasy series on top of continuing her Throne of Glass series! She must have no free time at all, haha! Court of Thorns and Roses sounds absolutely wonderful!

 

8. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows: I read about half of her first book, Incarnate, but I wasn't a huge fan so I didn't finish it. But now that she has a new series coming out, I have vowed to give her a second chance and this new series sounds very promising!

 

9. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh: I had to add a book from an author that I haven't heard much about. The Wrath and the Dawn is the first book in a brand new series publishing in May of 2015! I'm really interested to read it because it has a middle eastern vibe and an Arabia nights feeling. It sounds like it's going to be really great!

 

10. Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman: Last week's top ten Tuesday was 2014 releases I was super excited to read but didn't get around to actually reading. One of those books was Prisoner of Night and Fog. I decided to just choose one book from that list, buy it on my kindle and read it immediately. That book was Prisoner of Night and Fog and it was absolutely amazing! Now I can't wait to start reading the next one!

 

11. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: Of course I had to add Carry On! I am a big fan of Fangirl and Rainbow Rowell in general! Her books are really great! But I really hope they change the cover of this one. I don't like it.

What Does the Bookworm Say? Christmas Traditions

I LOVE Christmas!!! I know it's cliche and that it's a lot of people's favorite holiday but there is just something about Christmas and the holiday season that makes the world feel different to me somehow. Maybe it's the twinkle lights on everyone's houses or that people get into the giving spirit. 

I also love all the family time I get around this time of year! On Christmas morning I open presents with my mom, dad, sister and this year my fiance and then we have a pretty big breakfast and get ready for the day. Then I go to my fiance's parents house and do a gift exchange there and watch as his nephews open presents. Then we go to his uncle's house with all the rest of his huge family. While there, we have cocktails, appetizers and a big family meal! And presents of course! This year we're going to try to make it back to my family's house for desert and more presents! It's going to be a crazy Christmas this year! A lot of running around and a lot of eating! And then to bed early cause I have to work the next morning! 

For more Christmas fun stop by Nite Lite Book Review, The Windy Pages and The Reader's Antidote! What do you do for Christmas? Have a topic you'd like us to discuss? Let me know in the comments! 

Series Review: The Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Mara Dyer Trilogy
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2011, 2012 & 2014 respectively

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

My thoughts: 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: This first book was definitely my favorite out of the three. I thought it was the perfect introduction to the series because it left me with so many questions that I couldnt' wait to get my hands on the second one in the hopes that some of those questions were answered. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was the perfect mix of mystery and romance and craziness! At the time, three years ago, it was exactly what I was looking for. A dark and twisty character and an unreliable narrator because she has absolutely no idea what was real and what wasn't.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer: The Evolution of Mara Dyer is really when the shit hits the fan. Not only is she unwillingly placed on a mental hold in the hospital for a little while but then she is forced to go to therapy five days a week instead of going to school! And not only is she still confused on what is real and what isn't but now she starts having these dreams that are more like memories! She's separated from Noah and her whole family thinks she's crazy! I liked this book a little bit less than the first one and I had no idea what to think about her dreams/past memories. Even though it was pretty weird, a good amount of questions were answered especially in the Jude catagory.

The Retribution of Mara Dyer: The third book really starts off with a bang. Throughout the book we learn a whole lot more about that crazy doctor and why she was doing all those experiments. Honestly, though, in the end, there were still a lot of things left unexplained or not explained well enough. While I understand the concept of the story as a whole, a lot of the detailes escaped my comprehension. And what was the purpose of the necklaces? Who knows. Even though there were a lot of deaths and a ton of darkness, I was hoping that Mara would go completely bad in the end. Shake things up a little bit. Love does not conqure all, that sort of thing. Anyway, The Retribution of Mara Dyer was my least favorite book.

Overall, I give The Mara Dyer Trilogy:

2014 Full House Reading Challenge-COMPLETED!

I actually completed one of my challenges this year! I'm so happy and proud of myself! Since 2013 was such a bad reading year for me I really wanted to step up my game and see what I could accomplish in 2014! One of the reading challenges that I entered is called The Full House Reading Challenge hosted by The Book Date! I decided to join this particular challenge because I thought it would be a good way to read a variety of books. And I was right! So here are my results for the 2014 Full House Read Challenge:

1. The Demon King by Cinda William Chima (From the local library)

2. Half Bad by Sally Green (best read so far in 2014)

3. Horns by Joe Hill (from my wishlist)

4. Boxers by Gene Luan Yang (set in a different country from you: China)

5. Get Even by Gretchen McNeil (published in 2014)

6. The Museum of Intangible Thing by Wendy Wunder (theme/issue you think is important: mental illness/suicide)

7. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (setting you'd like to visit: Italy)

8. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (suspense or crime)

9. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson (contemporary)

10. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (more than 400 pages: 513 pages)

11. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (reread)

12. Vicious by VE Schwab (review persuaded you to read it)

13. Sanctum by Madeleine Roux (Free choice: horror)

14. Off Season by Jack Ketchum (published before 2013: published 1980)

15. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (book with animal in it)

16. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (won or borrowed: won from publisher)

17. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (historical fiction: WWII)

18. The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (less than 200 pages: 180 pages)

19. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (non fiction)

20. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (author new to me)

21. Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead (book from a series: #5 in the Bloodlines Series)

22. The Ruins by Scott Smith (free or bought cheaply: less than $3 used)

23. Asylum by Madeleine Roux (published in 2013)

24. Halfway to the Grave by Jeanine Frost (paranormal or SF or dystopian)

25. Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst (cover you love)

Waiting on Wednesday (137)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Proof of Forever
Author: Lexa Hillyer
Hitting the Shelves: June 02, 2015

BEFORE: It was the perfect summer of first kisses, skinny-dipping, and bonfires by the lake. Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe knew their final summer at Camp Okahatchee would come to an end, but they swore they’d stay friends.

AFTER: Now, two years later, their bond has faded along with those memories.

THEN: That is, until the fateful flash of a photo booth camera transports the four of them back in time, to the summer they were fifteen—the summer everything changed.

NOW: The girls must recreate the past in order to return to the present. As they live through their second-chance summer, the mystery behind their lost friendship unravels, and a dark secret threatens to tear the girls apart all over again.

ALWAYS: Summers end. But this one will change them forever.

Why I want this: I am such a sucker for young adult contemporaries like this! The Proof of Forever sounds so cute and I love a good book about friendship. I'm on a contemporary kick right now and I think I'm really going to enjoy this one!

GIVEAWAY!!

Don't forget to enter my Big Christmas Giveaway going on now until the beginning of January! I'm giving away 7 ARCs that I picked up this past summer at ALA!

Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases I Meant to Read

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

Here are my top ten 2015 releases that I meant to read but never did:

1. Scandal by Sarah Ockler

2. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

3. Sekret by Lindsay Smith

4. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

5. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

6. The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

7. The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

8. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

9. Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel

10. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

My Big Christmas Giveaway!

Hey readers! What a better way to kick off the Christmas holiday in the blogosphere than to have a big giveaway! I decided to giveaway some of the ARCs that I picked up this past summer at ALA to one lucky winner! We all want a nice new stack of shiny books to choose from in the new year and I want to help you with that! My only requirement is that you like my Facebook page :) So take a peek below and see what I'm giving away:

a Rafflecopter giveaway