Top Ten Books I've read in 2012

Hi everyone :) I'm part of the Top Ten of  2012 event co-hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun, Lisa from A Life Bound By Books, Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic, Jaime from Two Chicks on Books  and  Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

Each deay from December 24 to December 28, the participating bloggers post and link up their top ten of a certain topic. I'm really glad they allowed for multiple categories and a few honorable mentions, otherwise I'd have a very tough time choosing! I've read sooo many amazing books this year :) I've ordered mine into paranormal / fantasy books and contemporaries. The list is about books we read in 2012, even if they came out earlier.

 Paranormal / Fantasy:

Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor
I read both DoBaS and Daugher of Smoke and Bone in 2012, but I think the second book was even better than the first. It doesn't really matter though, because I absolutely adored both! The writing is just phenomenal :)

The Lux Series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I'm just putting them both together here. Yes, I'm a little cheater :P If you made me pick though... gah. I don't know. I loved Onyx and seeing Katy come into her was awesome, but I think I liked Obsidian just a tiny bit better ^^ I'm really curious for Opal, I'll have to get it soon.

Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh
I waited a whole agonizing year for this book to come out and it was worth every single second! Soooo good! I love Varen. He's hands down my favorite book boyfriend. And Isobel grew so much during this novel! The lore. The Poe aspect. The beautiful, beautiful writing. I need more! You can read my review here if you're interested :)

Something Strange & Deadly, by Susan Dennard
My first zombie novel, and I loved it sooo much! I mean I kind of knew it would be great, but it was just so much more than I had expected! The historical aspect was phenomenal, and I loved the dynamics between Daniel and Eleanor ^^

Dearly, Departed, by Lia Habel
Yes, another zombie book. I think I always pick the steampunk zombie books that aren't the usual zombie apocalypse book. I've never read one of those, and I doubt that I'd like them, but I was blown away by this one! The world building is amazing, and Bram totally made me believe in a zombie love interest! And despite the gore, it was a fun read too :)

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
I don't know why it took me so long to read this book. It was soooo beautiful! I felt completely pulled into the world of the cirque des rêves and my mind still goes there quite often. This book is so well-structure and thought out! It made me laugh and cry and feel pretty much the whole emotional spectrum.

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake
A year late to the party, but I read this in the summer really quickly. I love Cas' voice! Can't wait for Girl of Nightmares to come out in paperback so I can finally buy it and they'll match. I'm really curious about what will happen!

The Soul Screamers series, by Rachel Vincent
Yup, I'm cheating again and just putting the whole series there. I read it all between January and June. Then I read more of Rachel Vincent's books. I'd love to list them, too, but that might be going a bit far with the rule-bending. I love Tod and Kaylee and Sabine. If I had to pick a single favorite from the series it would be If I Die.

Black Heart, by Holly Black
I love Holly Black. All her books. She is such a courageous writer! The Curse Workers Trilogy is a masterpiece, and this was the perfect conclusion! I'm really sad there won't be more Cassel and Lila stories, but I like where it left off. Doesn't mean my heart wasn't broken on the way through the book. Definitely worth the pain, though!

The Shadow Society, by Marie Rutkoski
I requested this on NetGalley on a whim and never expected to love it quite as much as I did! What a unique idea, and what a wonderful heroine! And my favorite poem played quite an important role in it :)

Contemporary:

Notes from the Blender, by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
I laughed so much when I read this book, and still it was about serious matters, too! I loved both Declan and Neilly, and getting their separate perspectives of the same events was awesome. Also, the authors actually GET Declan's perspective and know what they're talking about with his music etc.! I read it in a day.

Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry
I loved Echo and Noah! A wonderful book, again with dual perspective. They're chemistry is off the charts, and they make a great team. The tough issues both characters are dealing with were well-handled.

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This was the first contemporary I read this year. The first one I'd read in many years! I stuck firmly to fantasy for like half a decade (probably more) before that. I picked it up on a whim at the bookstore because I liked the cover. Then I saw that it was about a girl from the foster system, and it played in San Francisco. The first few sentences pulled me in, so I bought it. Then it was on my shelf for almost half a year. Then I read it, and my heart opened, I hurt, I cried, I was happy. It's a tough book, but a truly beautiful one.

Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
This isn't something I would have bought if I hadn't read so many awesome reviews. I picked it when I won my first giveaway. It was such a fun, engaging read! I'm always scared there will be too much drama in contemporaries. I hate drama. But it wasn't too much in this one, and realistically handled. I really need to get Lola and the Boy Next Door soon!

The Breakaway, by Michelle Davidson Argyle
I finished this one yesterday but I just had to add it to the list! The issue of kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome, and abusive / dependent relationships was really well-handled, in my opinion. I think I would have acted different from Naomi on quite a few occasions, but I could see where she was coming from and why she did what she did. My review will be up in February as part of the blog tour for the sequel.

Manhattan Transfer, by John Dos Passos
The only non-YA book I've got here. It's a classic, and the writing style takes a while to get used to, but then I found it hard to put down! There are dozens of characters, some of whom never show up again, but there are also reoccurring ones and I loved following the development and intersections of their lives over the years. It covers New York history from the 1890s to the mid1920s.

I didn't manage to come up with ten contemporaries. As I said, I'm new to the genre. There were a few more that I read and enjoyed but I didn't really feel like putting them into my top ten just to fill it up.

Here are a few other amazing books I read this year though. Some of them it was really hard to pit against each other and I wish I could have featured them on my list!

Honorable mentions:

Click the covers to get to Goodreads

What do you think of my list, and which ones made it onto yours? Tell me in the comments!

Tomorrow, I'll choose my top ten favorite covers of 2012. It'll be agony >.<

I MADE IT - challenge news and reading update

Yup, I've just finished Scorch - the last book I needed to complete the Sequels Challenge! I really didn't think I'd make it, what with having to finish Ironskin too before it expired and university classes starting again, but I did. My review will be up later in the week because I want to spread them out a bit and I've already posted one on Friday and one today. But yup, Scorch is all read and damn did my eyes grow ever larger on those last two dozen or so pages! Can't wait for the next book!!

So here's the record of my victory:



You can click the first three to read my reviews. As I said, Scorch will be up later this week, as will Ironskin. I'm kinda proud of myself for completing the challenge, as I really doubted that I'd make it. I don't think I would have if Scorch hadn't arrived on release day - I knew this one would be a fast read, while Melissa de la Cruz's Masquerade would probably have taken me longer to finish. So now I'm kinda blinking in surprise at all the sequels I've cleaned up over the summer. I think Masquerade is the last one on my shelf, and it'll have to stay there a while longer while I read all the recent releases I got lately but couldn't read because of this challenge and my NetGalley books.


So here's what I plan to read over the next two or so weeks:



 I've already started reading my NetGalley copy of Death and the Girl Next Door but I'm not far in enough yet to say anything about it. And it nearly killed me to own Carnival and Unspoken and not to be allowed to read them!!! Other awesomeness on my shelf that I might get around to: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel, Touch by Jus Accardo, Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Foretold anthology edited by Carrie Ryan... I'll get around to them. The only good thing about my book buying ban is that I already own so much awesomeness :P

Have you taken part in any challenges recently? What were they for? Did you enjoy them?

Review: Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh

Release date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Format: Hardcover, 429 pages

Description from the dust jacket:

Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dreamworld – a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by nightmares of Varen’s creation, is the only one who can save him.

Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning hours of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the “Poe Toaster” will make his annual homage at the legendary poet’s grave.

Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But great dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen’s affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.

Could Isobel’s greatest love also be her greatest adversary?

The following review is based on a copy I purchased myself.

Do not read if you haven't read Nevermore and don't want to be spoiled!!!

Review (no spoilers):

I have waited for this book for more than a year, with big expectations and not a little fear for what the novel would hold in store for Isobel and Varen – I was not disappointed on any of those accounts. Trying to review Enshadowed is difficult for me because there is just no way I can do this book justice. Anything I say will be bland compared to the experience of reading it. It made me laugh, it surprised me, it scared me, intrigued me, and it left me in pieces – as it well should.

The ending of Nevermore left Isobel in the real world while Varen was a captive in the dreamworld he helped create. Enshadowed picks up a few weeks later. Isobel has still not found a way to reach Varen but is trying to convince her parents to take her to Baltimore for a ‘university trip’ so that she can then sneak off and intercept Reynolds, aka the Poe Toaster, at Poe’s grave and make him take her to Varen. Meanwhile, she is under a lot of strain because the police, her teacher Mr Swanson, and basically the entire student body think that she has at least an idea about where Varen went. Isobel feels terrible for leaving him behind, even though she was tricked by Reynolds into doing it, and she is hell-bent of finding him and bringing him back no matter what.

However, there are signs of Varen reaching out to her in her dreams and Isobel is finding it harder and harder to distinguish between waking and sleeping, between what is real and what should not be real. Pinfeathers, one of the Nocs created by Varen, is haunting her both in he dreams and in the real world. I never thought I’d say this but I grew to love Pinfeathers. In Nevermore, he plain scared me (though during the re-read I learned to appreciate his sense of humor) but the Pinfeathers in Enshadowed is changed, and Isobel can no longer be sure about who is friend and who is foe. The connection between Pinfeathers and Varen is one I found very fascinating, as are the parallels between Varen and Poe and their relations to the dreamworld and to the veiled female figure who lured them there and whom I cannot really talk about without spoilers.

Isobel is a very strong heroine, refusing to give up even as everyone around her, in the know or not, tells her to turn her back on Varen and get on with her life, lies to her, or otherwise tries to hinder her. Comparing her to the spoilt cheerleader she was at the beginning of Nevermore, she has undergone incredible growth! And she does not wallow in self-pity, even though she has reason enough to do it.

Also the minor characters gain a lot more depth in the sequel: Isobel’s family plays an important role, we get to know Gwen better and there is also some light shed on Varen’s parents and his past in general. I’m still not sure I have figured out how it’s all connected but I have theories ;) Kelly Creagh definitely keeps the reader guessing, and I loved that!

Of course what I loved most of all was the wonderful, rich and lyrical prose. Not once does Creagh resort to a clichéd description; instead, she comes up with wonderful new similes and metaphors that fit her story perfectly. She creates moods and scenes that will pull the reader right into the story, at her mercy to be awed or terrified. Poe’s writing is a phantom haunting the story, woven through it in an unobtrusive yet recognizable way to those who know his stories and poetry. And it’s not just random phrases, quotes or allusions – it’s the deeper themes, the places, the names… I could write an essay just on intertextuality in this series.

All in all, this is a wonderfully crafted, dark read full of mystery and its very own brand of magic, both in the story and in the words Creagh uses to tell it. It will make you laugh and cry and shake your fist at the injustice of the world, and like the notes of a certain lullaby, it will haunt your mind for a long time to come.

I could rhapsodize on forevermore but this is a novel you just have to read for yourself to feel its full effect. I can’t wait for the conclusion of this trilogy!

P.S.: And yet I feel I should ramble on because this is too short to possibly do the story justice… maybe I’ll edit it at a later point. My brain is still too bedazzled but I had to get this on the page while still ‘under the influence’, so to speak.

Have you read Enshadowed? What were your thoughts? Predictions? Fears? Favorite bits? Let me know in the comments :)

Stacking The Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews for us to showcase any books we've gotten that week, be they gifted, bought, or received for review.

My book haul :) All of them are bought apart from Origin, which is a signed ARC I won in one of the author's competitions :D It's my first ARC and it makes me very happy and I just want to dig into it already ^^
Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh
Black Heart, by Holly Black
Touch, by Jus Accardo
Uncommon Criminals, by Ally Carter

I've been meaning to read Touch forever, but whenever I wanted to get it, it was out of print or only available in an edition that for some reason was very expensive. I put of buying Black Heart for a long time because I was reluctant to buy it because of that dreadful cover change, but I finally caved. I hate that all 3 books look really different from one another on my shelves thogh :( This is such an amazing series and I would have loved to own them all in the same edition and format!
Enshadowed will be my next not-for-review read, just after I've re-read Nevermore. And by not-for-review I mean that I don't need to have it read or reviewed at a certain time, not that I won't review it at all ;)
I'm also looking forward to reading Uncommon Criminals because the first book, Heist Society, was so much fun! It's not top priority though; I have sooooo many unread books at the moment that choosing between them is making me crazy >.<
There are some more books that I ordered that are supposed to arrive hopefully soon... for example I got an email that Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan, was pre-released and sent on its way, so I hope it'll get to me by release day / Tuesday!

It's been quiet here as concerns reviews this week. The reason is that I've read one book for a blog tour and can't post the review till next week, and I'm still on the book I started after that. It's been a bit slow going with my reading, but I hope my speed will pick back up soon!

What new books did you get? Show off your book haul and leave me a link so I can check it out :)

Review: Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh

From the back of the book:

Some nightmares can follow you into realiy. Even when they’re not your own.

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her, either. But soon Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Can she save Varen from the madness taking hold of him? Or will they both be consumed by the shadows of his nightmares?

Published August 31, 2010 by Atheneum

Hardcover, 543 pages

Review:

I’m going to admit that my review won’t be unbiased, since I absolutely loved this novel. And not only because of the gorgeous cover. Finally, finally something different! Not that I don’t love reading about vampires, werewolves, fairies and shapeshifters – but it’s nice to be confronted with something new every once in a while. Yes, there are strange, terrifying creatures and occurrences here, but they are of Kelly Creagh’s own design. There is another world, but until the very end it is hard to say in what connection it stands to our own. Is it a different realm? Is it based on Varen’s mind alone, or on the minds of others like him? Is it a dream space? How is it connected to E. A. Poe, whose writings and imagination permeate the entire novel? And who is Reynolds, the ambivalent figure who seems to alternately help and hinder Isobel in her quest to both help Varen and get her own life back on track?

Another thing that I liked is that for once, the main female character is not an outcast but the head cheerleader. I was a bit doubtful about whether the author could make me like Isobel and empathize with her (I’m definitely not the cheerleader-popular-preppy-type of girl), but she did. Yes, Isobel’s got a knack for pink stuff, and she’s rather superficial at the beginning. However, she changes and develops over the course of the novel as her world begins to unravel all around her. Ever since she was paired with Varen and he wrote his number on her hand in purple ink (OMG! Scribbled on by the freak! Eww!) her life has been spinning out of control. She loses her boyfriend (no big loss there, though), her place on the cheer team, her friends, the approval of her parents. She might even be losing her mind. This forces her to extend her mindset and take decisions with far-reaching consequences. She needs to be proactive and figure out what is happening – and how to stop it.

Need more convincing? The supporting characters are also great. Gwen, Isobel’s new friend, has an awesome sense of humor. She is also unforgivingly direct and doesn’t take no for an answer. She sticks with Isobel when she has no one else left, even though they barely know each other. Also Isobel’s younger brother is a great kid and it was nice to see how their relationship changes and develops. And Poe himself is also a character in the book, though he is more of a looming presence in the back of it all. An unanswered and prominent question during the whole book is: how exactly did Poe die?

Then there is Varen himself, of course. Mysterious, gloomy, composed. Wearing far too much black and chains to be in Isobel’s comfort zone. He’s no overdone goth cliché though, and he’s got a healthy sense of humor and self-irony. He’s also tortured and haunted by his own creations as he loses control over his imaginative powers. Of course, all of that makes him Isobel’s father’s and boyfriend’s kryptonite. Plus, how much and in what way Varen cares for her is anything but sure. This is no Romeo & Juliet type of story.

This novel is steeped in Poe and his tales & poems, but not in a way that makes it easy to foresee what is happening. Nevermore is always one step ahead; you’re drawn into the story but you can never guess where it’s all leading. No one really explains things to Isobel, and it’s not one of those situations where you have to bash your head on the desk because the character is just too stupid to figure out what’s going on. Much is left unsolved in the end, which makes is REALLY hard for me to wait for the sequel, which is called Enshadowed  and will be released in late August. You can also check it out on my last Waiting on Wednesday post.

All in all? One of those books which absorb you while you’re reading them and haunt your mind and your dreams while you aren’t. Kelly Creagh has great talent for creating atmosphere and making the characters and places appear real to you. The novel also made me buy a big, fancy hardcover edition of Poe’s tales and poems. If you already know some Poe it will enhance your reading, but it’s not absolutely necessary to get the story.

I hope I could give you a notion of the book without being spoilery, and that I got some of you intrigued so that you’ll read it. This book deserves way more recognition than I think it has gotten so far!

Have you read Nevermore? What did you think of it?

Waiting on Wednesday: Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week, I was deliberating between picking Rachel Vincent's Before I Wake and Kelly Creagh's Enshadowed. But I thought that since BIW is releasing so soon and is probably covered more often, I'll go with the latter. It's the sequel to Nevermore, a book I loved so much the wait for the sequel was really killing me for those first few weeks.

Kelly Creagh - Enshadowed (Nevermore #2)

goodreads

Publication date: August 2012
Publisher: Athenum
Kelly Creagh's website: http://www.kellycreagh.com/

From goodreads:
[From the back of the ARC] Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dream world -- a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by the nightmares of Varen's creation, is the only one who can save him.
Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning hours of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the "Poe Toaster" will make his annual homage at the legendary poet's grave.
Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But even greater dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen's affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.

The ending of Nevermore left me heartbroken. Seriously. I was pining to read more of Varen and Isobel! This book made me buy a jacket so I could decorate it like Varen's. Also, the big, hardcover B&N edition of the collected stories and poems of E. A. Poe. The prose of Nevermore was just sooo beautiful, I can't wait to get more of it. I'm curious to find out what exactly is going on with Varen, how he is connected to Poe and Reynolds. Also, Pinfeathers! Unique, creepy character but I was intrigued.
How will Isobel deal with the changes in her life, and what she will do to try and get Varen back? Although the description makes it sound like getting him back might only be the first step of many...
I'm anxious. On the one hand, I can't wait to read it - but on the other hand I find it hard to imagine a scenario in which there is a sort-of-happy ending for Varen and Isobel...

Have you read Nevermore (or been lucky enough to get an Enshadowed ARC) ? What books can you not wait to get your hands on? Comments make me happy :)