Here are some new books on my ever-growing To Read List.
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| I just realized how monochrome this book haul is. |
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Over a year ago, I sat with my friends at the majestic World of Beers and I distinctly remember my friend, Liz, talking about the latest YA dystopian novel that she could not put down. She described the sensation of being in a page-turning trance from start to finish. Divergent was this book. For whatever reason (read: because there is so much to read out there!!!) I never got a chance to pick up the book until now. Also, the pressure is on with the movie coming out in March of 2014. Sidenote, I am very excited to see Shailene Woodley in this leading role and doubly excited for her other leading role in The Fault in Our Stars movie that is currently being filmed! What? What's that you say? You haven't read The Fault in Our Stars? Close this browser now and go read it (Just kidding, wait until you're done reading this post...and then go pick up that treasure of a book.)!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
LET'S talk about this book cover. Isn't it every girl's dream to be an insanely long-haired, weapon-wielding, leather-clad warrior/assassin with armored shoulder pads and filigree cuffs? Isn't it? No? Seriously, though, without even opening this very cool book, I want to be the chick on the cover. I first came across this book when I saw a sweet resident of mine from college, Emily, (how I miss those RA days, especially her suite of lovely ladies) post about the release of this book's sequel. Needless to say, I was insanely hooked by the story of the extremely dangerous Celaena Sardothien (that name!!!!!) who has to win her freedom in a battle royale of sorts after being released from imprisonment in a salt mine. There's something else about Dorian, a Crown Prince, and Chaol, his Captain of the Guard (I sense a love triangle a-brewin'), but mostly I am sure this book will involve general badassedness on the part of Celaena and I can't wait to get lost in her story.
EDIT: I started reading this book since originally drafting this post. I am about 100 pages in and WOW. Celaena is unreal. Sarah Maas does some very interesting world-building here. I really like the pace with which Maas unravels the complexity of the story line and the subtle writing style is also refreshing. Okay, no more until I finish.
Angelfall by Susan Ee
"It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world," reads the back cover. Sold! I could probably talk for 10 years about my love of haughty, warrior angels (e.g. Gabriel in the movie Constantine, Raziel in The Mortal Instruments Series) and maybe this is counter intuitive, but I appreciate when angels are given a bit of humanity under all their loftiness. To me, it actually makes them more mysterious and unreachable, like the nature of heavenly creatures is as it should be: suuuper complicated (multiple us added for emphasis).
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
I saw this book listed under one of Purewow's "read this book before the movie!" lists. I am in the process of rediscovering YA lit (if you couldn't tell) and I curiously clicked on the preview of this book on Amazon. Let me tell you, I was REALLY upset that the preview kicked out as early as it did, because I must have cracked up at least 10 times during those first couple of pages at rebel without (or with) a cause, Sutter Keely's observations of the world. Hilarious. I'm sure I'll enjoy this.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
This was totally a recommendation from John Green in one of his latest live streams. John Green could literally get me to read the phone book for fun! Needless to say it looks like this book will package vampires and an actual strong female lead in a gritty, dark story, which I can definitely appreciate. I know Holly Black belongs to the same writing circle as Cassandra Clare, so that also counts for something. Another very cool cover!!!
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith...
...a.k.a. J.K. ROWLING! I started reading The Casual Vacancy months ago and I have to confess that I put it down because the story didn't really capture me. I have faith that I'll pick it up one day, especially since the writing was very beautiful (no surprise there). The Cuckoo's Calling is JKR/RG's first straight up crime novel, which isn't exactly my literary comfort zone, but I am excited to get into this one. I can't help but wonder if some magic is lost in knowing that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for a special lady who has written another very special story (are there still people out there who have not read Harry Potter?). I kind of wish that detail had been kept a bit more under wraps, but that's just me.
What books have you had your noses in lately?
Happy Reading!
V.
Bonus Bits
- I recently finished reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. It's such a great story and I think my favorite part about this series is that I get to talk about it with my oldest nephew. He has read all of Rick Riordan's books and my heart literally swells with joy at the thought of him falling in love with reading.
- I guess I took a mini hiatus from blogging in the last month, but I am back and I have a lot to share with you. If there is something you would specifically like to see on here, let me know!
- Moment in high school history: I was just reminded by my sentence above: I need to give a shout out to my 10th grade English teacher, Ms. Mary Albanese, who taught me that "a lot" is grammatically correct and "alot" and "lots" are basically not that a thing in the English language.
- I have consumed WAY too much Diet Coke today.
