Top Ten Tuesday: books I would like to see made into a movie

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.

This week's topic is the top ten books we would like to see made into a movie... in a world where movie studios don't butcher our precious books.


Honestly? I'm not even so crazy about books I like being made into movies. Not because of casting choices and the like but because when I read, that already is like a movie in my head. I also never imagine characters modeled on certain actors - they look a certain way in my head, but it's not like any real people I know.
That being said, here are ten books/series I would like to see made into a movie or TV series, in no particular order.

Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone
There actually is talk of a movie! But anyway, it'll probably be years until it comes out. The world building here is just so amazing - I would love to see Karou's Prague and the exotic places she goes to, as well as Eretz of course! The special effects/make-up would have to be out of this world amazing to pull it off though.

Kendare Blake - Anna Dressed in Blood
This would actually be cool as a series! It would mean more time to develop characters, plus new episodes could be written, for instance about some of the ghosts Cas hunted before he met Anna. It would be awesomely creepy!

Cassandra Clare - The Infernal Devices
I know it's been optioned with the same studio that made City of Bones, but again, it'll take forever until there's a movie - if there is. I would love to see it though! I'm a sucker for Victorian London :)

Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
Okay, this is pretty much impossible to make into a movie, partly due to the narrative style and how much it relies on language as a medium, but wouldn't it be epic? It would be like 12 hours but whatever - while I was reading, I so wished I could see the circus for real and walk among the tents!

Holly Black - The Curse Workers trilogy
I know I feature this series all the time in my top ten lists! But it just somehow has a cinematic quality to it. It would have to be sharp, with quick cuts, an a lot of light and shadows - sort of in the style of old film noir movies!

Stephen King - The Dark Tower series
Definitely would have to be a series, this is a couple thousand pages too long for movies. But god it would be soooo amazing! But Stephen King would have to have a lot of say on the set or it wouldn't work. Or maybe the scope is too big and the series is better off staying a book? Hm...

Kim Harrison: The Hollows series
Too epic for a movie - this would have a to be a series! I'd love to see Jenks, Rachel, and Ivy on the screen! And Kisten *gets all nostalgic* I don't think it'll happen though. I remember Kim Harrison saying a few years back that so far she always declined offers from producers and the like.

Lia Habel - Dearly, Departed
Steampunk costumes, airships, and zombie battles! I would love to see this amazing mixture of Victorian and digital age! It's somehow like being in the future and in the past at the same time. And it would be great visually!

Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely series
There's also been talk of a movie or TV series but I have no idea where that's at. It's one of my top favorite fairie series though so I'd love to see it on the screen! The characters are some of my top favorites :)

Anonymous - The Book with No Name (the Bourbon Kid series)
This simply because it would be batshit crazy. Quentin Tarantino would have to direct it. It would be funny and gruesome at the same time.

I'm not sure that those are the top most amazing-est picks I could have made. In fact, I bet that I'll check out other blogs and think 'damn, how could I forget?!' - so link me up, and let me know what you think of my picks :)

Teaser Tuesday: Ink Exchange, by Melissa Marr

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


It's been a very long time since I did one of these! But this week's TTT topic is just too hard, and I am FINALLY, after about a year of wanting and meaning to, re-reading Ink Exchange! It was my first Melissa Marr novel and I figured out that it was book 2 in the series a couple chapters in, but I just couldn't stop reading anymore. The re-read now, knowing what I do about book 1 and the rest of the series, is very interesting and enjoyable :)

Don't know the Wicked Lovely series? Have some Niall and Irial, two of my favorite characters. This is from Niall's perspective.

He realized now, though, that no matter how carefully he'd guarded his secrets, he'd been transparent to Irial. If the Dark King could read his emotions, could taste them, he'd known of Niall's weaknesses each time they'd met. I've been exposed to him the whole time. Irial didn't shame him for it. Instead he held out the same acceptance he'd offered centuries ago - and Niall didn't, couldn't, reply.
Irial said, "It's been a long time that you've been living for Keenan, paying back some perceived debt. We are what we are, Niall, neither as good or as evil as others paint us. And what we are doesn't change how truly we feel, only how free we are to follow those feelings."
Then he slipped away into the crowd, dancing with mortals as he went and looking every bit like he belonged there among them.
- Ink Exchange, pages 252-253 (bold emphasis is mine)

About Ink Exchange

Release date: April 24, 2008
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Paperback,  352 pages

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .


What do you think of my teaser? Have you read the series? I love how dark and sensual and unapologetic it is. It's one of my favorite fairy serieses because all the courts are so distinct from one another but they need balance to coexist. And I love the characters. Saying goodbye was really hard.
What are you sharing teasers from this week? Link me up!

Top Ten Tuesday: books I recommend the most

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week the participants post their top ten to a specific topic.

This week's topic asks the impossibility of me to choose the top ten books I recommend the most

Like seriously how should I choose?! I think sometimes I'll have to resort to just giving you authors. I'll also try to focus on books that maybe not everyone has already read and aren't that well-known. However, I'm currently lying propped up in bed with a fever so I might not be fully coherent...

1. Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh
   Yup, because her writing is just that beautiful. And Varen is my favorite book boyfriend. The way Creagh weaves Poe into her story is magnificent! You can check out my review here. It's the first one I ever wrote though so beware...


2. Anything by Holly Black really, but why not start with White Cat, the first book in the Curseworkers series? There you've got a type of Urban Fantasy I haven't ever seen anywhere like this. It's part noir, part fantasy, part gangster thing, and features lots of cons and twists and amazing characters and reader-heartbreak! I'd link you to my review, but I've only done book 3 so there'd be spoilers...


3. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
   I know, I said no super well-known books. But seriously just pick this one up. It's magic enclosed in paper.


4. The Replacement, by Breanna Yovanoff
   It was so great I still haven't found the right words to review it. It tore out my heart and I lost count of how many times I cried at the beauty and the sadness and how often my chest ached for Mackie.


5. Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series
   To this day my favorite fairy series ever. I read the last of the spin-off mangas today and was reminded of just how amazing her characters and world-building are!


6. The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
   Another book that will put you through the emotional wringer, but it's sooo good! It's also theoretically New Adult, even though back then it wasn't marketed as such. It's about an ex-foster-home-girl trying to make a living in San Francisco.


7. Anything by Ralf Isau, especially his Kreis der Dämmerung (Circle of the Dawn) books. I'm not sure if you can find them in English though, but he's a fairly well-known German YA, MG and adult author. I know his work's been translated into other languages... Many of his stories and characters are still with me and helped me through rough patches in my teens.


8. Generation X, by Douglas Coupland
   Simply an amazing book! What he writes about the 90s generation is still fairly applicable today, IMO.


9. Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books, starting with A Madness of Angels (not god-like angels, they're the remnants of our voices in the telephone wires). Seriously THE best Urban Fantasy/Urban Magic series I have read. EVER.


10. Finally, I feel like I should list a classic. Hm. Maybe Virginia Woolf's Orlando? Wilkie Collins' Woman in White?

I could have listed so many more books you guys!! Neil Gaiman. Gayle Forman. The Infernal Devices. Kim Harrison. Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon trilogy. Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Ugh >.<
Have you read any of them? And what can you recommend? Link me up in the comments :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Desert Tales, by Melissa Marr

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited for.


My pick this week:

Release date: October 22, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Paperback, 200 pages

Goodreads description:
Return to the world of Melissa Marr’s bestselling series and discover how the events of Wicked Lovely set a different faery tale in motion….

The Mojave Desert was a million miles away from the plots and schemes of the Faerie Courts—and that’s exactly why Rika chose it as her home. The once-mortal faery retreated to the desert’s isolation after decades of carrying winter’s curse inside her body. But her seclusion—and the freedom of the desert fey—are threatened by the Summer King’s newfound strength. And when the manipulations of her trickster friend, Sionnach, thrust Rika into a new romance, she finds new power within herself—and a new desire to help Sionnach protect the desert fey and mortals alike. The time for hiding is OVER.

Originally presented as a manga series, and now available for the first time as a standalone novel, Desert Tales combines tentative romance, outward strength, and inner resolve in a faery story of desert and destiny. 


I'm so excited for this! I LOVED the Wicked Lovely series!!! I own the Desert Tales mangas and I've read the first two, but I'm still curious about how the story will change as it goes from one medium to another. And I'm just homesick for that world... already the cover design and font fit in so well with the other books!
What do you guys think of my pick? Have you read the Wicked Lovely books or the manga? And what are you highlighting this week?

Stacking the Shelves: in which I am grateful and stare at prettiness

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)


This was a great week for me! I managed to mostly stay away from ebooks, some of the great bargain books I order from the Book Depository arrived, and most importantly I was accepted for The Eternity Cure on NetGalley!!! Thank you thank you thank you Harlequin!!! Weeee :D I don't think I'll be able to stay away from it very long...


For review from NetGalley:

The Eternity Cure, by Julie Kagawa
Bloodspell, by Amalie Howard


Bought books & swag I won:

 

Carrier of the Mark, by Leigh Fallon
The Poison Diaries, by Maryrose Wood (based on a concept by the Duchess of Northumberland)
Blood Rights, by Kristen Painter
Desert Tales Vol. 3 manga, by Melissa Marr

Plus some stickers for Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock that I won in a giveaway hosted by Jean from Jean Book Nerd! Thank you :)

Carrier, Poison Diaries, and Blood Rights were only around 3-5 euros each so I just couldn't resist! I've been curious about all books for a long time. And when Melissa Marr said that the Desert Tales mangas are becoming difficult to get a hold of and that she's transformed them into an upcoming novel, I headed over to Amazon.de immediately and snagged the LAST copy of Volume 3 so that I now have a complete set ^_^


Ebooks:

Sins & Needles, by Karina Halle
Ashes and Ice, by Rochelle Maya Callen

I just had to make these covers a bit bigger so that you can all appreciate their beauty!! Seriously they are among my favorites ever :) I don't think I've read any reviews for Ashes & Ice yet, but Sins & Needles has been very well-received, and it focuses on a con artist and a tattoo artist - basically an insta-buy for me ;) Both books were 99 cents on amazon when I got them at the beginning of the week...

So that's it from me :) I had a very stressful week and didn't finish a single book... I can't remember the last time when that happened o.O So I have lots of reading material now :) What do you guys think of my new books? And what did the postman make you happy with this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors on my auto-buy list

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week the participants post their top ten to a specific topic.

This week is about authors that are so amazing and that we trust so much, we'd buy anything they wrote.

There are only a few authors from whom I'd buy absolutely *anything*. I mean, if I read the book description and it's about an issue that just doesn't interest me, or if they suddenly go into another genre, or if their new book is about a topic that is a trigger for me, I'd stay away, or at least not buy the book immediately. But there are many authors that I trust and whose writing I am totally in love with so that I preorder their books.

1. Melissa Marr
   I love love love her writing style. I've read all her Wicked Lovely stories including the mangas, many stories she has in anthologies (though not all because there are so many and I only have so much money and time) as well as Carnival of Souls. However, not sure about that middle grade series she has coming out soon... but that's because at this point I'm just not into MG.
   
2. Holly Black
   Her. Writing. Is. Magic. I've loved it since I read (and reread and reread and re-borrowed so I could re-read before I had my own copy) Tithe. I'm so excited about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown coming out in the fall! And the Curseworkers books just blew my mind.
   
3. Kim Harrison
   The Hollows series. Rachel. Jenks. Ivy. Al the coffee-loving demon. Kisten. Enough said ;)
   
4. Jeaniene Frost
   Cat and Bones are among my favorite couples :) Also, I love how she combines fun writing and banter with action and creepiness. She creates memorable characters that come to life on the page!
   
5. Richelle Mead
   Fun, action, heartbreak, redemption... I've read all her books apart from the Dark Swan ones because I haven't gotten to them yet. Her style is just so readable for me, I don't want to stop and just dive into the worlds she creates :)
   
6. Kelly Creagh
   Her writing is just sooo beautiful! I love how she brings the Poe elements to life in her books but also twists them and makes them her own! I read her books slowly just so I can savor them. I'm very curious about what her next project after the Nevermore trilogy will be!
   
7. Rachel Vincent
   Her writing is just so gripping and real! And I love the characters she creates. She doesn't shy away from letting them make risky decisions and facing the consequences. Very strong heroines. No sugar-coating the bad things. I'm very curious about that new YA project she's been hinting at!
   
8. Erin Morgenstern
   She's only published one book but seriously I loved The Night Circus so much I couldn't even review it because I have no idea how. It's a masterpiece. I'll buy whatever she releases next without thinking twice about it.
   
9. Kate Griffin
   What an imagination! I love her version of urban fantasy. So magical! Gives me a book high and lets me see the world with fresh eyes. Also, reluctant heroes that don't want to do heroic things by default. Love it :) Oh Matthew Swift...
   
10. a tie between Julie Kagawa and Sarah Rees Brennan and maybe Cassandra Clare
    Yup. Julie because I was hesitant about trusting her with the vampires but she was amazing at it, and I also loved her adult story in the 'Til The World Ends anthology. If she decides to go for adult horror next, I'm in.
    Sarah Rees Brennan because her writing is jus so fun and addictive, but also heartbreaking! She sure loves to torture us poor readers :P I loved the Demon books and Unspoken, but I haven't bought Team Human yet. I just don't know if I want to. I'm sure it's funny but... I dunno. The co-authoring bit might also play into my decision...
    Cassandra Clare because I don't know if she can do anything non-Shadow Hunters. I love those novels, the Infernal Devices even more so. But another trilogy? I mean, I'll certainly read it, but I'd also like to see her branch out a bit. I read a non-nephilim short story of hers in an anthology once but that one didn't really do it for me...

There are quite a few authors I feel sort of bad about not including but yeah... there can only be ten. And unlike for other people, J.K. Rowling is not an auto-buy for me.

What do you think of my list? Anyone you'd like to chuck out? Someone you also picked? Also, leave a link to your own list, I'm curious about maybe discovering new authors :)

Top Ten Favorite Book Covers of 2012

Hey guys :) Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you can spend some relaxed days with your loved ones and eat tons of cookies ;) I'm sure eating more than I should, but my mom's are just too good to resist ^^''

Anyhow, today is the second day of the Top 10 of 2012 event co-hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun,  Lisa from A Life Bound By Books, Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic and Jaime from Two Chicks on Books and Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

And it's all about the cover-pretty of 2012! Choosing was really hard for me and I'm sure I simply forgot about quite a few really amazing ones. They must be for books published in 2012, and it would be better if we'd actually read them though it's not necessary.


Here I go... click the covers to get to Goodreads.







I haven't read Opal, Ten Tiny Breaths, and Blackbirds yet but the covers and descriptions sound awesome! I generally tried to choose different types of covers. I like the more abstract, illustration-design of Unspken and Blackbrids a lot, but of course I also like girls in pretty dresses... and there are so many amazing covers of that type around now! Also, I would love to have included Clockwork Princess and Splintered but those won't be out until next year.

Here are my three honorable mentions:


Two more pretty dress covers I really liked. And I like the simplicity of the cover for Confessions of an Angry Girl.

What do you guys think of my choices, and what made it onto your lists?

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated 2013 Releases

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, they post a new topic that the participants make a top ten list for.

Posting this somewhat belatedly... I have a lot of real life things going on that are very sad and rob me of a lot of my energy. Sorry if I'm not as active as usual.


This week's topic: Top Ten most anticipated books of 2013


No particular order

Have some cover-pretty!

1. Phoenix, by Elizabeth Richards
   I just finished Black City last Friday and I'm in love with the world and characters Elizabeth Richards created! I need to know how Ash and Natalie's story continues!
2. With All My Soul, by Rachel Vincent
   Over the course of this year I have completely and irrevocably fallen in love with the Soul Screamer series. I'm so invested in these characters it's not even funny. I just need to know who makes it and what happens and how everything is resolved, even though sometimes I'll be doing the reader equivalent of watching a movie through my fingers as I cover my eyes because I can't quite bear to look but can't look away.
3. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
   I recently re-read the short story of the same name, published in a short story collection called The Poison Eaters. A really unique take on vampires, can't wait for the full-fledged novel!
4. Dance of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin
   I want to go back to the world of this story, no matter how much hurt and heartbreak I might be in for.
5. The Indigo Spell, by Richelle Mead
   I seem to list a lot of series-finals in this post... oh well. I just need more Sidney & Adrian.
6. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by April Genevieve Tucholke
   I've never read anything by her but the book just sounds amazing!
7. Sweet Peril, by Wendy Higgins
    I've been pining for this since the moment I finished Sweet Evil.
8. Splintered, by A.G. Howard
   I love Alice in Wonderland retellings and many bloggers I trust have given it amazing reviews, so I'm super curious about it! From the description it sounds awesome.
9. There's not been a title announcement yet, but I really want the sequel to Melissa Marr's Carnival of Souls! Not sure it'll come out 2013 'already' though...
10. Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare
    I love The Infernal Devices, probably more so than The Mortal Instruments. I just want to know what happened already, and how the two series relate! I just hope the best for Will.

Much has been left out of this list. I'm also pining for Angel Fever by L.A. Weatherly, Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan, the last Nevermore installment by Kelly Creagh, a new Urban Magic book by Kate Griffin. As well as lots of others I've marked as to read that aren't out yet. But I think my top ten does cover the most important ones... probably. ^^'

What's on your top ten? Are some of my books on your list as well?

Teaser Tuesday: Carnival of Souls

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Okay so I've only just started with this one (finally!) and I'd rather not skip ahead and spoiler myself...

 This is from Mallory's point of view, page 11 in the UK paperback (Harper Collins):

"That meant she was caught living among the witches, preparing to fight daimons with only a human's defenses. Sometimes, guiltily, she admitted to herself that this wasn't the life she wanted. A stray thought of Kaleb flitted through her mind, but she knew without asking her father that he'd never agree to her changing her training or workout schedules so she had time to date."

Talk about caught in-between without belong anywhere! I'm really intrigued by Mallory's lifestyle so far but I'm only on page 17 and things are still a bit confusing.

What are you reading and teasing us with this week? Link me up in the comments :)

Stacking the Shelves: the Epic Haul edition

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga's Reviews to showcase books that we got - be it for review, by trade, because we bought them, whatever. Those can be printed or ebooks.

As announced in the title, my haul since Sunday has been huge! Part of that is because I had ordered and preordered quite a bunch of books (I was lured in by bargains and vouchers and the like) and part is because I have an amazing friend who gave me a ton of books she had gotten from a relative who moved, but that she didn't want for herself (it was like 3 huge boxes, she kept some, but were also a load that will be given away to a used book shop).

First off, the bought ones:

Masque of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin
Carnival of Souls, by Melissa Marr
Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan



I've wanted all of those for forever! Unspoken finally arrived today (I had hoped I'd get it be Tuesday). I can't read either of them now because of the sequels challenge, but I finished Masque on Thursday night and the review will probably go up on Sunday.


And now... *drumroll* the very pretty signed Foretold anthology I won in a giveaway from Malinda Lo!

It's so pretty *hugs* I have few signed books so this is precious to me! Click the pic to get to Goodreads.


And the gifted ones:

Jeff Lindsay: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design
Carrie Ryan: The Forest of Hands & Teeth
Neil Gaiman: Smoke and Mirrors

I've only seen the first two seasons of the Dexter TV show bu I loved them! So I'm curious about those first four books. I've read a short story of Carrie Ryan's that is connected to the novel but not the novel itself, so yay! And Neil Gaiman is one of my big loves when it comes to books. So yay again!

And... MORE Gaiman&McKean! Graphic novel edition ^.^
The Last Temptation
Black Orchid
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch
Mirrormask
Marvel 1602
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Crazy Hair

I'm curious about all of them but slightly (*cough*) despairing about when I'll get to read them all! o.O

Anyhow, that's my pile. And I'm offically on a Book Buying Ban now. Apart from that copy of Obsidian that still hasn't arrived yet *grumble*. So... what's on your pile? Leave me a link in the comments so I can check it out :)

Top Ten Tuesday: most awesome worldbuilding

Top Ten Tuesday is a weeky meme by The Broke and the Bookish, where they post a topic every week and ask the participants to post their top tens. This week is a freebie, so we can choose whatever topic we like. And because I've recenty read a few novels with really great worldbuiding, I've decided to present you...

Top Ten Most Awesome Worldbuilding in a Novel/Series

In no particular order.

1. Kim Harrison - The Hollows series


This was the first Urban Fantasy series I ever read, and I am still in awe of how thorough the worldbuilding is! Rules, laws, species, habits, rockstars, food, history, places... it seems so real I know I'd be disappointed if I ever actually went to Cincinnati and none of it all was there. I love how Kim Harrison adds new aspects to the Vampire myth (living vs. dead vampires) and also bring in weres, witches, demons, pixies, fairies, leprechauns, banshees, elves, gargoyles... and all of it fits together to create one gritty, realistic world!

2. Neil Gaiman - American Gods

Neil Gaiman is a master of worldbuilding and I could just as well have chosen The Sandman graphic novels, but I decided to go with American Gods. I love the basic ideas of people taking their gods with them when they emigrated to America, then slowly forgetting about them. Old gods having to fight for survival as new gods, gods of technology, appear... intriguing idea. Loads of research on Old Norse gods, Native American gods, as well as eastern European, South American and many other regions must have gone into this. I just love how it all comes together, though I am not pretending that I understand everything in this book. But it contains some of my favorite passages in fiction.

3. Kelly Keaton - Gods and Monsters series

I am re-reading Darkness Becomes Her right now to prepare for A Beautiful Evil, and I was once again struck by how awesome the worldbuilding is! The series is set a couple years in the future, in a New Orleans (now called New 2) which is privately owned by the Novem, a city council of nine old and wealthy families. It is no longer part of the US nor under US law. New 2 has become a haven for all things freakish and paranormal. I love how Kelly Keaton combines traditional New Orleans imagery and themes with old Greek myths and creatures! I have never been to New Orleans or even the US, but the city with its old houses, smells, mix of cultures and beliefs, maskerades, rituals and cemeteries has forever nestled into my mind now.

4. Rachel Vincent - Unbound series

I have not read Shadow Bound yet, but I loved the world of Blood Bound! It is gritty and cruel and realistic. If something like Skills existed, this is what it would be like. I liked the idea of a city divided into different syndicate territories by the river, the difficulty of trying to be independent of the mob and still make a living. This is a harsh world where no one without both fighting skills and a brain can survive very long. There are quite a few serieses involving people with special skills, but the ones in this series worked differently than those in any other I have read.

5. Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely series

Hands down my favorite fairy series ever! I love how the world of fairie and our world intersect, influence, and depend on one another! I love how each fairy ruler represents the traits of their kingdom. I love the descriptions of the clubs where fairies and mortals intermingle. I love the dark, twisted relationships of some of the characters. And I'm just always in awe of Melissa Marr's writing.

6. Holly Black - Curseworkers series

All of Holly Black's novels that I have read have great worldbuilding, but I've decided on this series for this post. I really enjoyed how the workers are both wanted/needed and feared, the whole history of them and how the great families rose to power in the US. I also enjoyed the whole idea of fighting for equal rights vs. making people disclose their abilities so they can be controlled. Plus of course the whole con artist and blackmarket aspect for workers and protective amulets, as well as the family relationships in this one.

7. Kate Griffin - Urban Magic series

Honestly? If I had put this post into a particular order, this series would top it. I loved how Neil Gaiman brought London to life in Neverwhere, but the worldbuilding in this series just tops everything. I have never looked at London the same way again when I visited after I read the first novel in this series. The city is suffused with magic, a modern magic. Magic in the telephone lines, the tube map, the river, the city lights. Magic in the gutter and the routine and clockwork of the city. The rats. The pidgeons. The beggar king. The graffity and other street art. "Life is magic", and Matthew Swift can use it all. And the writing was so gorgeous that I had to plaster the novels with sticky notes for the especially awesome bits.

8. Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Everyone raved about this book when it came out, and it took me way too long to finally get a copy of it... but I am so glad that I did! I loved the Prague Laini Taylor created in this novel, and I am excited to see what the city is really like when I go there in only 8 days! I loved the art and sketchbook aspect, I loved the ideas of wishes made from teeth and bones, I loved the idea of a chimaera world and a doorway that can go anywhere! Chimaeras are a type of creature/myth I had not seen in YA before - the book is just a breath of fresh air.


9. L.A. Weatherly - Angel series

Before I read the first book in this series, I was not a big fan of angel books. Very often they are just suffused with Christian/religious beliefs and ideology, and I'm not a big fan of that, nor do I believe in god. (Just for the record: I have no problem with people who do, as long as they respect that I don't and don't try to convert me.) But a book where angels are evil and suck humans' energy and nobody knows? Well, apart from the Angel Killers of course. Well, I was intrigued. Awesome read!

10. Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy / Bloodlines


Yup, last but not least I have to mention Richelle Meads. To be honest, I did not think the first few VA novels were that great, but probably that is because I read them in the German translation my sister borrowed from a friend of hers before she bought the whole thing as a boxset in English. I read the last 2 books this summer and I was so immersed in that world again, and it was so much better than I remembered, that I had to get the Bloodlines novels at once! I love the moroi/strigoi mythology as well as the alchemy aspects and the whole political dimension in these serieses!


Okay, this post took forever to write for some reason, and I'm sure I have left out a lot of novels with amazing worldbuilding... for example The Mortal Instruments / Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. Or Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers. Julie Kagawa. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan.

So, have you read any of the novels I listed above? What are some of your favorite books with awesome worldbuilding? Let me know in the comments :)