Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten All Time Favorite Books in X Genre

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten All Time Favorite Books in X Genre.  I worried that I wouldn't be able to come up with 10 favourite books in any genre... but I'm going to go with my favourite genre: paranormal fiction.  There's lot to choose from in that category: ghosts, reincarnation, rifts in the space/time continuum...

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee - I can't even remember why I decided to read this book many years ago (unless it was because I'd just read the Claidi Journals books and I wanted more from that author).  This book looks like science fiction, but it actually has a paranormal twist.  I still remember this one fondly, years after reading it; it has one of those endings that you just can't forget.

Absent by Katie Williams - Reading this book was just a happy accident.  I was trolling through the e-book offerings at my local library and I happened upon this one.  I chose to read it because it was short.  It was actually one of the more enjoyable stories I'd read in a while.  It's almost in the contemporary genre... except that it's told from the point of view of a ghost.

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer - I wanted to read this book for quite a while before I actually got my hands on a copy.  It's a decades-old third book in a trilogy about two sisters, but I think it stands up pretty well against some of today's offerings for this age group.  It's a bit of a boarding school story, a time travel story, and a historical fiction story, all rolled into one.  And I loved some of the characters (especially Emily).

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - This story was creepy and weird... but in a good way.  The addition of the strange vintage photographs that depict the peculiar children only add to the uniqueness of this very odd and entertaining novel.

The Lake and the Library by S. M. Beiko - This was another library find.  I'd never heard of it, and judging by how many times I've stumbled across it on other book blogs (i.e., zero), I'm guessing most people haven't heard of it, either.  That's a real shame, because this Canadian offering is just as good as many of the highly hyped YA paranormal novels out there.  It's a love note to books and libraries, as well as a heart-warming story about friendship and love.

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares - Am I the only one who's disappointed the sequel never happened?  This was one of the best novels that featured the concept of reincarnation that I've ever read.  And the characters (especially Daniel) were so appealing that I really wanted to read more of their story.

The Witches of Willowmere by Alison Baird - This is the first book in a self-contained trilogy (probably my favourite YA trilogy of all time) that deals with witches and reincarnation.  There are a number of similarities with the more popular Immortals series by Alyson Noël... but this trilogy was written years earlier and Baird did a much better job.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey - If you've got to have brooding, angst-ridden teenage vampires, they might as well be funny.  I don't think Lucius intended to be, but he was endearingly amusing in his letters home.  Plus, he actually was a young man, so his wooing of the heroine didn't come off as creepy and pedophilic.  Some of the secondary characters in this book were wonderfully memorable, as well.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor - I read this book not too long ago, and I'm still in awe of the author and what she did here.  Not only was the world-building amazing, but the character development was so awesome that by the time that ending happened, my heart was a figurative pile of mush on the floor.  I want to read the sequels, I really do; I just don't know if my heart can take it.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - While it could be argued that this is more of a contemporary novel about mean girls, it also falls squarely into the paranormal camp (unless reliving one day over and over again is some sort of normal occurrence that I'm not aware of).  The bonus here (and why it's one of my favourite novels of all time, regardless of genre) is Oliver's beautiful prose.  I really, really liked this book and its message about bullying and the power of redemption wrapped up in a paranormal framing device.

Review - Stolen

Stolen
by Lucy Christopher
Date: 2009
Publisher: The Chicken House
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 306
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

This is my story.

A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is not the type of book I usually read, or even contemplate reading.  But it just goes to show how occasionally stepping outside of your comfort zone can pay off.  I really enjoyed this book.

While the underlying premise might seem similar to a book like Emma Donoghue's Room, Stolen is altogether different in voice, setting, and tone.  I cycled through a range of emotions while reading this book.  I felt anger at Ty for what he'd done to Gemma.  I felt the fear that goes along with the horrible sense of isolation of the unpeopled desert.  And I felt utter confusion as I started to understand and even empathize with the villain.  I liked that this book wasn't just written in black and white; it was painted in shades of grey.

It's interesting that, even though the entire novel takes the form of a letter written by Gemma, we're really more familiar with Ty by the end of the book.  While Gemma comes across as a somewhat stereotypical teenager, who does stereotypical stupid teenage things (like drinking in the park with friends and almost getting herself raped), Ty is really the more interesting character.  What little he tells Gemma of his backstory is enough to help us understand what he did, why he did it, and why he thinks his actions were completely logical and justified.  And yet he was more than just a calculating criminal with a hair-trigger temper.  At times he was gentle, sensitive, and caring; those vulnerable moments let the reader see what kind of person he might have been had the events of his own past been different.

And I found that having such a complex, utterly human character as the story's villain really messed with my mind.  I kept having to remind myself (much like Gemma did) of what this man had done, the initial decisions and acts that had set the story in motion.  But I suspect that the back-and-forth of emotions in the reader was actually what the author was going for.

One of the main themes in Stolen is summed up well by Gemma herself when she says:

A part of me understood why you'd done it, too.  And it's hard to hate someone once you understand them.

Had we been left with no real understanding of Ty, it would have been so much easier to hate him.  And while I couldn't quite get to thinking about him as appealing, I did feel awfully sorry for such a messed-up young man.

Stolen wasn't really what I was expecting when I picked it up and started to read; it ended up being better than that.  It's an emotional roller coaster that immerses the reader in a landscape and a relationship that are both difficult to forget.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Review - Cinder

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer
Date: 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 390
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl...

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I read the free, five-chapter sample of Cinder, and even though I thought I'd already figured out the major "twists" in the story, I was intrigued enough by what I read (and swayed by so many glowing reviews) that I bought the full book so I could find out if a) I was right about my suspicions regarding the plot, and b) if it was really worth the hype.  I got clear answers on both counts.  Yes, I was right.  No, it wasn't worth the hype.

The premise really is a good one, setting the old story of "Cinderella" in a futuristic dystopian setting.  Unfortunately, that setting was one of my main problems with this book.  Despite the intriguing basic idea of a dystopian New Beijing, the world-building isn't strong enough.  There were too many things that just didn't make sense.  Ostensibly, this is Earth in the far distant future.  How far distant, we're never told, as the years appear to be counted from the end of World War IV.  Between now and then, humans have apparently colonized the moon, made advances in cybernetics, and figured out flying cars... but their lack of moral and emotional evolution is disturbing and never quite explained (although I guess that in itself could partially explain why they had a World War IV).  I spent the whole time I was reading this book wondering what, exactly, was so bad about being a cyborg that Cinder had to whine about it and have continual pity parties about it.  A cyborg has, for whatever reason, artificial body parts in addition to human ones.  After fighting two more world wars, this society doesn't seem to have cultivated much empathy or compassion for people with disabilities (and after two world wars, presumably there would have been quite a few).  Why are they viewed as second-class citizens?  This was never explained.  Was it just so that Cinder could be viewed as an unworthy match for a prince?  Was it some sort of commentary on the current attitudes toward the disabled in some parts of Asia (where the story takes place)?  Even so, this is a far-future story.  Why have attitudes stayed the same... and even gotten worse?  Why does having an artificial body part make you less worthy of human rights?  Why does having metal or plastic in your body turn you into something that can be owned?  (People with pacemakers or artificial hips, beware!)

My second main complaint was with the characters.  I just couldn't get a feel for them.  As a result, I didn't really care about any of them.  Aside from the cool things that Cinder could do because of her cybernetic implants, she really was unremarkable as a character.  Yes, she's a mechanic.  But how does she really feel about it?  Why did she get into mechanics?  What's her personality like?  I read almost 400 pages about her, and I still feel like I don't know.  I don't even know how she really felt about Kai.  The problem is, she was too busy trying to avoid him and prevent him from finding out her secrets.  In effect, she stayed pretty much a mystery for the reader as well... except for one important point, which was probably my biggest disappointment of all.  I figured out the big twist at the 13% mark.  I kept reading, kind of hoping I was wrong, but knowing with each heavy-handed hint that I wasn't.  So I basically read the remaining 350 pages already knowing the ending.  If you can call it that.  If you were hoping for a happily ever after (as one would logically expect from a retelling of "Cinderella"), you'll be disappointed.  Cinder ends right before the final act, and if we want any answers, we'll have to read the next book(s) in the series.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible book (in spite of what I've mentioned above), but it wasn't great and I probably won't be recommending it to anyone.  With some more complete world-building, better character development, and final polish on the writing (there were some grammar/word choice issues that really should have been caught), this would have made an interesting addition to the fairytale retelling genre.  I'm disappointed that it didn't live up to the hype, because this is one book that could have been really good.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 2.71 out of 5

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Read In 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read In 2013.  I read more books in 2013 than I expected to (especially since I got off to such a slow start).  August and September were both pretty prolific months for reading, and though I did slow down at the end of the year, I think I read enough books that I can come up with a pretty decent top-ten list.  A few picture books (and one novella) made it into my top 10, but I'm going to stick with full-length novels for the purposes of this post:

10. Beastly (Beastly #1) by Alex Flinn
3.71 out of 5
I do usually enjoy fairytale re-tellings... so I'm not sure why I don't read more of them!  This modernized version of "Beauty and the Beast" incorporates elements of the original story and message and packages them in a present-day, big-city setting.  I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

9. The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
3.71 out of 5
I'd heard a lot about this book before I decided to finally give it a try.  I'd read Stiefvater's Shiver and sort of enjoyed it.  I liked The Raven Boys a lot more... even though I wasn't crazy about the ending.

8. The Lake and the Library by S. M. Beiko
3.86 out of 5
This offering by a Canadian author may not be very well known.  That's a shame, because it's just as good as (if not better than) a lot of the stuff coming out of the major U.S. publishing houses for young adults.  Fans of contemporary fantasy and paranormal stories will probably enjoy this one; I know I did.

7. Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
4 out of 5
While I'm not generally drawn to books about the Holocaust, this verse novel based on real events and people really drew me in.  The photographs were a nice touch that really helped bring the story to life for today's young readers.

6. Absent by Katie Williams
4 out of 5
I'd never even heard of this book, and I only picked it up because I was looking for something fairly short.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a highly enjoyable contemporary/paranormal story.

5. Skellig (Skellig #1) by David Almond
4.29 out of 5
While it's been around for a while, I'd never actually read this one.  I'm really glad I finally got around to it.  Its target audience may be a bit younger than that of most of the rest of the books on this list, but it still provided plenty of enjoyment for this adult reader.

4. Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass
4.29 out of 5
While many of the verse novels I've read have tended to be about serious (often historical) subjects, this was a fun little story in the tradition of It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  I really enjoyed it.

3. My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt
4.57 out of 5
Who would've thought that a verse novel about a young prostitute living in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods would make my top 10?  I certainly wouldn't have guessed it.  And yet, this was probably the best verse novel I read all year with characters that had me thinking about the book long after I'd finished it.

2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor
4.57 out of 5
I'm still shattered by that ending.  I loved this book, but I'm hesitant to read the sequel.  This author really knows how to rip your heart out... and I don't know if I can take it!

1. Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1) by Isaac Marion
4.71 out of 5
This was the book that got the highest rating out of anything I read this year.  It also made the biggest impression on me and had a big emotional impact.  While it's not the best book I've ever read, it's definitely at the top of my list for 2013.

In My Mailbox (59)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

Crewel
by Gennifer Albin

“May Arras flourish at her touch.”

For generations, girls known as Spinsters have been called by Arras’ Manipulation Services to work the looms and control what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Gifted with the unusual ability to weave time with matter, sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys is exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But Adelice isn’t interested. Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

The School for Good and Evil
by Soman Chainani

"The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away."

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are...?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Under the Never Sky
by Veronica Rossi

Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY.

The first book in a captivating trilogy, Veronica Rossi’s enthralling debut sweeps you into an unforgettable adventure.

Unearthly
by Cynthia Hand

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to X Person

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to X Person.  Who's the target of my recommendations?  I'm going to go with Boys (or YA Fans Who Want A Break From Female Protagonists).  There are so many books out there these days, but the YA and MG markets don't seem to reflect the fact that boys make up 50% of the population.  So here are some books I'd recommend that would appeal not just to the female segment of the market:

10. The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner - This is one of my all-time favourites.  Gen is a fun character and a great narrator... and just the sort of fellow you'd want to go on an adventure with.

9. Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1) by Isaac Marion - One of the most enjoyable zombie novels I've read, this one really lets you get inside a male character's head... even if that guy is technically dead.

8. Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick - This is one of the better male-narrator YA novels I've read.  It's creepy and dark, but with an interesting storyline that's a bit different.

7. Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis - While the framing device in this story uses a girl, most of the action in this story revolves around a young man named Farhad and his adventures with a talking white tiger.

6. Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers #1) by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson - It's Peter Pan, a bunch of little boys, and some manly sailors!  You can't have much more guy appeal than that...

5. Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones - Quite a few of Diana Wynne Jones's books are suitable for boys, but I remember this story being particularly un-girly.

4. Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker #1) by Paolo Bacigalupi - This is a somewhat dark, near-future adventure with a strong male protagonist.

3. The Magic Thief (Magic Thief #1) by Sarah Prineas - This was a fun first novel in a series that would appeal to younger fans of Harry Potter.

2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine #1) by Ransom Riggs - A male narrator, fascinating old photographs that tie into the story, and some really creepy goings-on make this a great choice for boys who may be reluctant readers.

1. The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry - There doesn't seem to be a ton of recent YA or MG dystopian fiction that's suitable for boys as well as girls, so I had to include The Giver on this list.  It was one of the first dystopian books I can remember reading, and it whetted my appetite for more in that genre.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On.  Let me preface this by saying that I'm not really feeling much love for sequels at the moment.  I've been disappointed too many times lately, so I'm not exactly itching to read any second (or third or fourth) books in a series.  That said, here are some sequels that I wouldn't mind reading (and that I hope I would enjoy):

10. The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater - The Raven Boys wasn't the best book I've read all year, but it wasn't the worst.  And I do kind of want to find out what happens, and if a certain plotline will eventually be played out (or if it will continue to be ignored).

9. The New Hunger (Warm Bodies #0.5) by Isaac Marion - Okay, so this is technically a prequel, but I didn't know about it until after I'd already read Warm Bodies.  There is going to be an actual sequel to Warm Bodies, but not for a while; it doesn't even have a title yet!

8. Under the Light (Light #2) by Laura Whitcomb - This one came out back in May, and I've yet to read it.  The first book, A Certain Slant of Light, is one of my favourite books, and Laura Whitcomb seems to be a dependably good writer, so I really want to read this particular sequel!

7. The Fox Inheritance (Jenna Fox Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson - I really enjoyed The Adoration of Jenna Fox, so I'd like to find out what happens in this next chapter, which sounds like it focuses on Jenna's friends.

6. World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee - It was a little cheesy and I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I enjoyed Angelfall... but I do want to find out what happens next!

5. Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) by Laini Taylor - Do I really have to explain this one?  That was one intense ending in Daughter of Smoke & Bone; of course I have to see how it plays out!

4. Dreamquake (The Dreamhunter Duet #2) by Elizabeth Knox - The first book, Dreamhunter, had a really different feel to it, and I found that refreshing.  I'd like to find out what happens to the characters and the intriguing world that Knox built.

3. Frozen Heat (Nikki Heat #4) by Richard Castle - I'm a little bit behind on my Nikki Heat reading.  I've been hesitant about this one because the ghostwriting seemed to change (for the worse) in the third book, and I don't know if I have it in me to slog through all that mediocre writing.  Probably the main reason why I would consider it is because of how the third book, Heat Rises, left off...

2. Jessica Rules the Dark Side (Jessica #2) by Beth Fantaskey - I have this one sitting in my TBR pile, and I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.  So many books, so little time...  I found Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side to be a delightful surprise; I hope Book #2 lives up to my expectations!

1. Hollow City (Miss Peregrine #2) by Ransom Riggs - I thought Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was deliciously creepy and pretty unique, so I'm definitely interested in reading a sequel... especially if it turns out to be as good as the first book!