Top 5 Sundays (5)

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.




08/05/12: Super Powers You'd Love to Have for a Day!




What is Top 5 Sundays? Here's how Larissa explains it on her blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky below the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1.Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2.Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3.Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it below).
4.After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5.If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments. =)

For my top 5, I have chosen some of my favorite series to help illustrate some interesting powers that I wouldn't mind having for a day.

1. Elemental Powers
Series: Elemental Assassins by Jennifer Estep
Books Available: Spider's Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, Spider's Revenge, By A Thread, and Widow's Web (08/21/12)
Reason: The elemental powers that the author has created as so in depth and creative. Characters use them for every day things, as well as fighting. I may need more than just a day with these powers because I would want to try out every elemental power available.

2. Demon Hunting & Shapeshifting Power
Series: Deadtown by Nancy Holzner
Books Availble: Deadtown, Hellforged, Bloodstone, and Darklands
Reason: This series is a double-whammy of powers that I would love. I would have so much fun shapeshifting, and I would probably shift into multiple animals. I would also enjoy demon hunting, but if I had to choose one it would definitely be shapeshifting.

3. Psychic Powers
Series: Winterhaven by Kristi Cook
Books Availble: Haven and Mirage
Reason: I love all of the different psychic abilities available in this novel. I would definitely want to spend the day using both telekinesis and telepathy. I've always wished I could have powers like that.

4. Oracle Powers
Series: Delphic Oracle by Alayna Williams
Books Available: Dark Oracle and Rogue Oracle
Reason: This series introduced me to many different types of pre-cognition powers that I found very interesting. I've always had a fascination with tarot cards, and this series introduced me to a world beyond them.

5. Lantern Powers
Series: Lantern by Laura Bickle
Books Available: Embers and Sparks
Reason: Although the lantern powers are a bit reminiscent of fire elemental powers, I would definitely love to have these powers for a day, especially if I got a familiar like Sparky to go with them.

Top 5 Sundays (4)

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.


07/15/12: Favorite Names of Female Characters!



What is Top 5 Sundays? Here's how Larissa explains it on her blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky below the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1.Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2.Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3.Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it below).
4.After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5.If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments. =)

1. Riley
Why Riley? Well, when I was trying to figure out what to name my kitten, I started looking at all of the books on my shelves and seeing what their main character's names were. When I got to Keri Arthur's Riley Jensen series, I knew I had found the name for my kitten (and I hadn't even read the book yet).
Books: Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen, Book 1) by Keri Arthur











2. Charlie/Charley
Why Charlie/Charley? I love when a strong female character has a first name more commonly given to guys.
Books: The Better Part of Darkness (Charlie Madigan, Book 1) by Kelly Gay & First Grave on the Right (Charlie Davidson, Book 1) by Darynda Jones




3. Violet
Why Violet? I'm not really sure. I don't normally like really girly names, and what's girlier than being named after a flower? There's just something about Violet that kept coming back to me while making this list.
Books: Haven (Winterhaven, Book 1) by Kristi Cook, The Body Finder (The Body Finder, Book 1) by Kimberly Derting, & Possession by Elana Johnson




4. Rhine
Why Rhine? It's a very original name, but it doesn't come off a pretentious the way other out-there names sometimes do.
Books: Wither (Chemical Garden, Book 1) by Lauren DeStefano















5. Harper
Why Harper? I just like it. There's really no reason, except I just really enjoy this name.
Books: Grave Sight (Harper Connolly, Book 1) by Charlaine Harris & Greywalker (Greywalker, Book 1) by Kat Richardson

Top 5 Sundays (3)

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.

07/08/12: Favorite Book Covers (1st Half 2012)!



What is Top 5 Sundays? Here's how Larissa explains it on her blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky below the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1.Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2.Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3.Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it below).
4.After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5.If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments. =)

1. Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig 04/24/12
Why I love it? It looks like a piece of art. The hundreds of birds coming together to make the cover model was genius.

Miriam Black knows when you will die.

Still in her early twenties, she's foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name.

Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. But Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim. No matter what she does she can't save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she'll have to try.

File Under: Urban Fantasy [ Touch Of Death | The Future Is Written | Free Way | Surviving ]

2. This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers 06/19/12
Why I love it? The hair over the cover model's face is so mysterious and the blood splatter hints at something bad. But most of all, the simplicity.

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life -- and death -- inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

3. Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen 05/22/12
Why I love it? This wings. They look like ink floating in water.

I don't do dangerous.

Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha -- that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me... something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing -- and I don't know if I can get it back.

Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me...

4. By A Thread by Jennifer Estep 02/28/12
Why I love it? The colors are bright and vibrant, plus I love that Gin is showing off her rune, her weapon, and her face.

When killing people is your job, there’s no such thing as a vacation.

Then again, how often does an assassin live long enough to enjoy her retirement? In this line of work, you either get lucky or you get dead. And since I destroyed my nemesis Mab Monroe a few weeks ago, all of Ashland’s lowlifes are gunning to make a name for themselves by taking out the lethal Spider -- me, Gin Blanco. So I’m leaving behind my beloved barbecue joint and heading south with my baby sister, Bria, to cool my heels in a swanky beach town. Call it a weekend of fun in the sun. But when a powerful vampire with deadly elemental magic threatens an old friend of Bria’s, it looks like I’ll have to dig my silverstone knives out of my suitcase after all. Complicating matters further is the reappearance of Detective Donovan Caine, my old lover. But Donovan is the least of my problems. Because this time, the danger is hot on my trail, and not even my elemental Ice and Stone magic may be enough to save me from getting buried in the sand -- permanently.

5. Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson 03/27/12
Why I love it? This cover has so many small details that make it more interesting the longer I examine it.

Have you ever heard of a Bludman? They’re rather like you and me -- only more fabulous, immortal, and mostly indestructible. (They’re also very good kissers.)

Delilah S. Dawson’s darkly tempting debut drops her unsuspecting heroine into a strange faraway land for a romantic adventure that’s part paranormal, part steampunk... and completely irresistible.

When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she’s coming to love?

Special mention to two covers that just missed making the list, as they were both 07/03/12 releases:
God Save the Queen by Kate Locke
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

Top 5 Sundays (2)

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.

06/24/12: Books You're Most Looking Forward to (2nd Half 2012)!



What is Top 5 Sundays? Here's how Larissa explains it on her blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky below the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1.Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2.Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3.Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it below).
4.After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5.If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments. =)

1. Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland 07/03/12

Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she’s beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that’s right -- the zombie mafia.

Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel’s going to need all of her brainpower -- and maybe a brain smoothie as well -- in order to get through it without falling apart.

2. Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson 09/11/12

It's not easy being a girl. It's even harder when you're the only girl in a family of werewolves. But it's next to impossible when your very existence spells out the doom of your race... Meet Jessica McClain -- she just became part of the pack.

In the vein of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs, a new urban fantasy that rewrites the werewolf myth...

3. Boyfriend From Hell by Jaime Quaid 09/25/12

They say justice is blind. But Justine isn’t.

Justine (Tina) Clancy is just an ordinary law student with a faulty arrest record, a part-time job in Baltimore’s radioactive Zone, and a family secret so bizarre even she doesn’t believe it. That is, until in a fit of fury she damns her boyfriend to hell -- and it’s exactly where he ends up.

Much to her surprise, Tina is apparently one of Saturn’s daughters, with the power to wield vigilante justice. But poor Max didn’t deserve to go up in flames, even if he did almost run her over with her own car. Tina’s convinced someone cut the brakes -- and now a relentless nemesis is stalking her through the Zone’s back alleys, where buildings glow, statues move, and chemical waste exposure comes with interesting consequences. Tina’s usually a loner, but now she needs a posse like no other: a shape-shifting kitten, an invisible thief, a biker gang, a snake-charming private detective, a well-meaning cop, and her sleazy, sexy boss. But in between freeing Max from hell, saving her own neck, and solving a mystery that threatens the Zone and her newfound friends, how is she ever going to study for finals?

4. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter 09/25/12

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave.

Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

5. Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter by Jessica Sims 10/30/12

Following the page-turning debut Beauty Dates the Beast, this is the second novel in the fresh and funny new series about a paranormal dating service.

Sarah Ward, the werewolf sister of Bathsheba from Beauty Dates the Beast, and co-owner of their paranormal online dating agency Midnight Liaisons, is voluntarily traded to a wolf clan in exchange for a kidnapped female were-cougar. Fearful of what might happen to her while with the wolf clan, she and Ramsey, a were-bear who’s part of the were-cougar alliance, pretend to be engaged so he can stay with her for protection. The last thing either of them expect is for their pretend engagement to lead to a very real love affair...

Special mention to the following titles I have received eARCs for, but still can't wait to dig into:
Widow's Web by Jennifer Estep 08/21/12
Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings 10/02/12
Velveteen by Daniel Marks 10/09/12

Top 5 Sundays (1)

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life.

06/10/12: Fave Books from 1st Half of 2012!



This is my first time participating in Top 5 Sundays. When I saw that this week's Top 5 theme, I knew I wanted to join in. I was planning some sort of post like this, and figured this was a great way to showcase my favorite reads so far this year.

What is Top 5 Sundays? Here's how Larissa explains it on her blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky below the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1.Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2.Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3.Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it below).
4.After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5.If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments. =)

1. Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

I don't do dangerous.

Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha -- that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me... something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing -- and I don't know if I can get it back.

Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me...

This book was absolutely amazing. It surpassed all of my expectations, and was definitely everything I look for in a Paranormal YA involving angels.

2. Black Howl by Christina Henry

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black's exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiance Nathaniel is out of the picture -- or so she thinks...

Normally, I enjoy the first book in a series the most, but this installment is the best yet.

3. By a Thread by Jennifer Estep

When killing people is your job, there’s no such thing as a vacation.

Then again, how often does an assassin live long enough to enjoy her retirement? In this line of work, you either get lucky or you get dead. And since I destroyed my nemesis Mab Monroe a few weeks ago, all of Ashland’s lowlifes are gunning to make a name for themselves by taking out the lethal Spider -- me, Gin Blanco. So I’m leaving behind my beloved barbecue joint and heading south with my baby sister, Bria, to cool my heels in a swanky beach town. Call it a weekend of fun in the sun. But when a powerful vampire with deadly elemental magic threatens an old friend of Bria’s, it looks like I’ll have to dig my silverstone knives out of my suitcase after all. Complicating matters further is the reappearance of Detective Donovan Caine, my old lover. But Donovan is the least of my problems. Because this time, the danger is hot on my trail, and not even my elemental Ice and Stone magic may be enough to save me from getting buried in the sand -- permanently.

Jennifer can do no wrong. She's on my "best of" lists every year, sometimes multiple times, and this installment was no exception.

4. Switched by Amanda Hocking

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel -- all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken... though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth -- and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become...

I was originally hesitant to read this novel. I tend to not enjoy a novel as much as everyone else is it's super hyped before I read it. But this definintely lived up to my expectations.

5. Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson

Have you ever heard of a Bludman? They’re rather like you and me -- only more fabulous, immortal, and mostly indestructible. (They’re also very good kissers.)

Delilah S. Dawson’s darkly tempting debut drops her unsuspecting heroine into a strange faraway land for a romantic adventure that’s part paranormal, part steampunk... and completely irresistible.

When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she’s coming to love?

One word: bludbunnies. This is the most unique, strange, and mind-bending novel I've read all year.

Runner's Up:
Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck
Blood of Eden by Tami Dane
Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff
Legend by Marie Lu