Top Ten Tuesday: My Winter TBR's

Top Ten Tuesday is an original (and seriously awesome) feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish.

I am excited to keep participating in this meme because the topics just keep getting better and better (and more challenging) each week.

This week's topic is...

Top Ten Books On My TBR List For Winter

Okay, some of these are on my TBRR list and not just my TBR list, because I've already read them, fallen in love with them and can't wait to devour them again.

Some are also books releasing this spring that I happen to have early copies of, but they're on my TBR winter reads list, so they I'm including them.

So, of course both of these things cut down my list of favorite winter release reads and prevent me from listing books like Legend, Cinder, Dead to You or Charmfall, which I also can't wait to read this winter.

This may be a list of my top ten reads, but they are in no particular order. I want to read (or re-read) all ten of them.

  

1. A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford is a book I just read and reviewed, but I'm already dying to read again. I'd been so desperate to read this book that I might have read it a touch faster than I normally would have, and so I want to go back again and read it a little more carefully. Just in case I missed any hints at what I can expect in the next book, due out in 2013.

2. Everneath by Brodi Ashton was a book I read, but definitely must re-read this winter. Not only because I read it strictly for pleasure and have to re-read it for review, but because I seriously loved it that much! I can't wait to read those passages about Cole and Nikki and Jack. This is probably the only series where I am almost evenly split between the two fic boys.

3. Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood has been on my radar for awhile and I'm dying to toss my current reading pile to the side just so I can start this book. It sounds dark and dangerous and yep, wicked. And I just recently started falling in love with books about witches, so I can't wait to read this one.

4. Fever by Lauren DeStefano has been screaming at me to be read from my book tower. I was dying to get my hands on a copy and when a super nice blogger (Jaime) got me one at a conference, I wanted to move it right to the top of my list. But sadly, I've had to wait, though it is totally a book for the top of my winter TBR pile.

5. Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey is another book I'm dying to re-read. I had to send my ARC back to the person I traded for it and haven't yet got it back, or I would already have re-read it. As it releases next week, I'm popping this book right back on the top of my TBRR list for winter.

6. Immortal City by Scott Speer is another book I am super excited to have as one of my top ten books to read this winter. I heard about it while stalking the catalogs and managed to get a copy through a trade. I haven't had a chance to read many books about angels lately and I'm just dying get my fix. And this book sounds like it will do the job nicely.

7. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows is yet another book I'm absolutely dying to read. Everyone is starting to read it now and saying nothing but amazing things about it. And it's killing me. Pure torture. So you can bet I am including this book in my top ten.

8. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi had me at the tagline. I didn't end up requesting it because I was worried about not getting to read it by release date, but that amazing blogger (Jaime) sent me a copy. So, while the pressure is off for a specific review date and time, that doesn't mean that the self-inflicted pressure is. Because I heard so many great things about this book I've just had to add it to my list of top ten reads.

9. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand has been on my list of top ten reads since the second I put down Unearthly last year. I can't believe I haven't read it already, as it's been on my tower for a few weeks now. Since I haven't yet read it, and winter is right around the corner, this book definitely makes the top ten list.

10. Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton may be listed last, but it's definitely not least, on my top ten list of winter reads. The wait has been way too long for this sequel. I miss Ellie and Will and Cadan and I wish I could dive into this winter read now. Though I may re-read Angelfire first just because I want to.

***

While I managed to come up with ten books that are at the top of my winter TBR, they're really in my top twenty. I've checked, and there are twenty books I'd kill to read this winter.

Though, I'm sure if I thought about it just a little longer, there are way more than twenty....

Anyway, I'd love to see what your top tens are, so feel free to leave a link in the comments!

Heroine Tournament: Kaylee's Advocate

I can't believe I'm doing this again so soon! I feel like I only just recovered from the match-up between Tod and Zach that kept me up all night until the voting ended at 6 a.m. But what can I say? I can't walk away from a fight.

Not all of my nominations made it through to the final thirty-two, but my top two did, and I couldn't pass the opportunity to represent...

You may know Kaylee from Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series. If you don't, the bind-up for the first two full-length novels and the prequel novella just came out. You can check it out on Goodreads. Talk about perfect timing!

And of course, as fate would have it, her very first round, on December 14th, will be up against Aura of Jeri Smith-Ready. For those of you who didn't follow the YA Crush Tourney over the summer, let's just say it was an unbelievably difficult match. And while Tod wasn't the victor, thank goodness he didn't have to go up against Jace Wayland and get completely steamrolled by the Cassandra Clare fans!

While I'm not ready to start campaigning - it is over two weeks until my match (hopefully not my only match) - I wanted to let everyone know in advance that -

1. I'm Kaylee's advocate; and

2. You may be tempted to unfollow me on Twitter during that 24 hour period, but I promise it's only for each 24 hours match. I'm really not a crazy Tweeter most days.

As with the YA Crush Tourney, I do not plan on bashing any of my opponents, though there are a few heroines that don't quite fit my definition of heroine.

And while Merriam Webster defines heroine in two ways...

Heroine -
1. A - a mythological or legendary woman having the qualities of a hero
    B - a woman admired and emulated for her achievements and qualities
2. A - the principal female character in a literary or dramatic work
    B - the central female figure in an event or period

...I think a true heroine, at least for purposes of this tournament, should fit definition #1. And Kaylee Cavanaugh is unquestionably one of those heroines.

So, if you'd like to show your support, feel free to grab a button from the sidebar, which links back to The YA Sisterhood's blog where all tournaments will be held.

And if you'd like to show your support on Twitter or Facebook, feel free to grab one of the images, below. (For Twitter, either the center button or the right one are easier to read on the timeline.)

Kaylee's match versus Aura will be on December 14th!

Thanks in advance for your support and/or putting up with my multitude of Tweets! I would love it if Kaylee made it into round two past Aura! (It would be a wonderful sort of redemption for Tod!)

And if you happen to have read If I Die, you'll believe me when I say that Tod would definitely want Kaylee to win!

Today's Ramble: A Better Week

Last week was a really, really bad week for me. I was on the verge of just giving up my online world altogether. I don't know if it was burnout, because I don't think I felt burned out. It's just that the seesaw was precariously teetering and that tipping point felt like it was imminent.

I won't go into the reasons why everything just felt like it was too much - too much drama, too much effort, too much stress. That would be seriously, seriously boring and those closest to me already know some of it, if not all. And although this is my site to ramble, I don't want to appear like a drama queen or attention seeker.
But what I always have to remind myself is that although things can be bad, they usually don't stay bad forever. So I should keep my mouth shut and my emotions in check until then. Ride the wave, so to speak.
And it's the little things that can just turn everything around. It doesn't take the big things. And with enough little things, they add up to be worth more than any one big thing.
This week I had a number of little things - which to me are actually really big things - that have just progressively added up to make me happy I didn't act rashly and just shut down. And I have so many people I owe huge thanks to in this community because of that.

A blogger I know, that I consider one of my very close friends, reminded me that sometimes people suck and to just forget about them.
I managed to receive my traded-for copy of A Touch Morbid on Monday.
When I hadn't been sure a copy would turn up, a blogger that I like to call a friend, sent me their copy of A Touch Morbid because she knew how much I wanted to read it. Even over all my protests that she shouldn't.
A wonderful blogger saw on Twitter that I was without a copy and offered to send me his copy of A Touch Morbid if mine didn't show up.
An amazing author whose work I love to no end, sent me an email that I will cherish forever and made me cry because she knew I was having a tough week.
Another amazing author who I will love until the ends of time decided to torture me via email in all the best possible ways about their upcoming book.
Another author I stalk and love offered to send me an additional signed copy of their book or two to share, just because.
One of my favorite authors/t.v. personalities decided to have a live Blog TV show this week for her minions.
And a blogger on Twitter discovered that I was blurbed in an ARC of Switched and decided to share that with me.
And every blogger and reader that I do talk to regularly on Twitter and Facebook has been amazingly kind and supportive even though I've been a terrible blogger for the past couple of weeks.

So, while today isn't Thanksgiving and I'm doing a "being thankful" post tomorrow on my main blog, these are just ten things I'm incredibly thankful for that happened in the last five days. All of which are thanks to just a few people that have made a world of difference and who I'm incredibly thankful for.
And it's all these authors, readers and bloggers who remind me exactly why it's worth the sleepless nights, the stress, and even the drama, that come with being a book blogger.
[Note: I decided to keep all names confidential, but I hope they know who they are and just how much I appreciate every single one of them.]

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'd Love to Have Over for Thanksgiving

Top Ten Tuesday is an original (and seriously awesome) feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish.

I am excited to keep participating in this meme because the topics just keep getting better and better (and more challenging) each week.

This week's topic is...

Top Ten Authors I'd Love to Have at My Thanksgiving Feast

Before I get into my top ten choice authors, I just have to say that I wasn't sure whether to list ten authors I'd love to have join me for Thanksgiving - assuming only one of them would come - or if this should be a list comprised of ten authors I'd like to have over for dinner all at one time.

I opted for the all together option. What's more fun than having ten amazing authors in one room. Also, that way I could bump a few less than entertaining family members from my list. Sorry Dad! (Just kidding.... sort of....) I only have so much room after all.

And while I'm sure all authors these days are quite civil, having a Thanksgiving literary smackdown would be seriously entertaining. So partnering authors who did not get along sounded like a fun idea. But in the end I decided to be nice because this is Thanksgiving after all.

I also wasn't sure if the authors had to be alive or if this was really wish-listed stuff - not that my top ten list is based on any sort of reality. But I decided to keep the list to authors who are presently alive and breathing, because dead authors or their ghosts would not bring much of an appetite... or a pie.

I will also warn all authors that while I am a pretty good cook, I am a vegetarian, and so the turkey would be ordered in from a restaurant. So they may be less than pleased at being forced to attend an imaginary Thanksgiving dinner with a non-home cooked meal.

And finally, my choices were mostly based on how entertaining they'd make the holiday. Thanksgiving can be seriously boring so I wanted to add some craziness to the mix!

1. Stephen King

Of course my favorite author of all time has to be at this dinner. Aside from the fact that he is such a creative genius, I have a feeling he could really make the holiday way more fun. Though having him at the table would remind me of that dinner scene in the Chinese restaurant in It, which I haven't been able to recover from for years and years.

2. Rachel Vincent

Yes, Rachel Vincent is one of my favorite authors, but that's not why I added her to this list. I added her for two very specific reasons. First, she would bring the sarcasm and for me a day without sarcasm is like a day without sunshine. Second, she can bake. Have you seen any of her creations? Seriously awesome!

3. Holly Black

The couple events I have attended where she's been speaking or reading have been hilarious. How could you not want Holly Black at your Thanksgiving table? And judging by the Curse Workers spoof website, I'd really hope she'd bring her husband who must have just as much a sense of humor as she does.

4. Gretchen McNeil

Now, I don't know this author well, though I feel I do from watching her vlogs. And they are hysterical. Gretchen McNeil seems like she would be the life of any party. And when the tryptophan kicked in and everyone started to get droopy and lackluster, I just have the feeling she could really revive the bunch and bring back the fun.

5. Karsten Knight

You had to have seen his vlogs. Right? And while I'm sure he may always not be the effervescent, sparkly personality he is on camera, I'm sure just looping a bunch of his vlogs and pestering him with questions about them would bring that side of his personality out.

6. Lisa McMann

Lisa McMann is another author that seems like she'd be a riot to have at Thanksgiving. I've seen some of her mini vlogs, I've stalked her tweets, and at the author signing locally she showed what a great sense of fun and humor she has. I'm thinking if she was at the table there might be pranks involved. How fun would that be?

7. Leah Clifford

You had to know this was coming, right? I could not have an author Thanksgiving without adding Leah Clifford to the table. She is outrageously funny and entertaining and would totally torment me with hints at her upcoming not-soon-to-be-released unnamed third book in her series. Of course, she would have to be very wary of leaving her food unattended. Just sayin'....

8. Scott Tracey

Aside from the fact that you can't have Leah without having Scott along, how could you not want to include this incredibly charming, tormentingly evil and hysterically funny author at any Thanksgiving feast? Of course I have ulterior motives and that would be ceaselessly bombarding him with questions about Demon Eyes. I don't think he'd want to be at my Thanksgiving table at all.

9. Sarah Rees Brennan

By now I don't think any explanation would be needed as to why I'd want Sarah Rees Brennan at my Thanksgiving dinner. Stitches. I'd be ROFL. She is wonderfully entertaining, super fun and funny and she LOVES the bad boy. She is the creator of one of my most favorite ones. I'm sure she could come up with a story or two about Nick if I begged.

10. Tessa Gratton

Tessa Gratton is another author I only "know" through her vlogs and her writing. But Blood Magic was so dark, disturbing and perfect and her vlogs are incredibly quirky and so I'd hope her personality IRL was a little bit of both. And perhaps she and Mr. King could come up some pretty horrifying tales to tell around the table.

***

So, this is my dream Thanksgiving author table. For authors who are currently alive and breathing that is. And while I haven't checked their pulse, based on their writing, they most definitely are! I have no problem imagining all ten of them sitting around the table. It would be the best Thanksgiving ever.

Actually, it would be the best Thanksgiving ever if even just one of them were at the table.

While I'm all for literary discussion, I'd much prefer to see the authors having fun, being themselves and getting a chance to know the writers behind some of my favorite books.

So who are the ten authors you'd want to have over for Thanksgiving? I'd love to know!

ARC Giveaway: Hallowed

I am a huge fan of Unearthly. I got approved for it on NetGalley and it was one of my earliest reviews. I immediately fell in love with this story and of course with Tucker.

So when the ARCs came out, some bloggers - not me - got a few copies and so I attempted to trade for one. But when it fell through I just couldn't resist trying to request it because I loved this story that much. And I was so thrilled to get it a few weeks back.

However, apparently my trade did not fall through and so I received two additional copies. One of which I'm sending to another blogger. So that leaves one for giveaway. And it appears that the ARC is unread.

What's up for grabs:

An ARC of Hallowed by Cynthia Hand that I received from a trade.

The deets:

1. One entry per person
2. You must be 13 or older
3. Giveaway is International where allowed by law
4. Giveaway ends Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific
5. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced on the blog by Midnight
6. Winner will have 48 hours after notification to respond
7. Prize will be sent by U.S. mail

There is no requirement to like, follow or jump through hoops. The Annex is always a hoop-free zone.

To enter, fill out the form below:

Thanks everyone for stopping by and entering the giveaway. The contest is now closed. Stay tuned and I'll be posting the winner here later tonight.

Good luck!

Congratulations Andreea! You're the winner of the ARC of Hallowed that I received from a trade.

I'll be contacting you shortly for your details and you'll have 48 hours to respond or I'll be forced to choose another winner.

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and entered the giveaway.

Tournament of Heroines: The Nominations

How the time flies! I feel like I've just started recovering from the YA Crush Tourney and now it's time to start the battle again.

The wonderful ladies at the YA Sisterhood blog have started the nominations process. And this time I've discovered the event early enough to get my nominations in. And because of the fact that I repped one of the characters over the summer, I get an early pick.

As I don't want to step on any of my fellow competitors toes, this is a friendly battle after all, I have a few heroines that I'd love to represent that weren't already snagged by them. And because I love the underdog, I decided not to pick someone like Clary from TMI, who happens to be one of my favorite heroines.

So, I've chosen three heroines that I'd love to advocate for. I have a top choice, but in case she doesn't win, the other two heroines are girls I'd be more than thrilled battling for. And none of my fellow bloggers that get first dibs have them on their top lists, so no toes have been stepped on.

My three heroines

Kaylee

Juliette

Eden

If you'd like to help out my three heroines to ensure their nominations or pick ten heroines you think are worthy of battle, head over to the YA Sisterhood's blog by clicking on the banner above.

Nominations will close at 12:01 AM CST on Thursday, November 24th.

Thanks so much for helping my favorites make the cut!

Today's Ramble: eBooks

This is just a short ramble as I haven't felt much like rambling since this pesky time change. I hope to be over it by next week, but it will probably be somewhere after Thanksgiving before I officially adjust.

I know very little about the industry and truly how eBooks are affecting book sales, but in my teeny-tiny world of one reader, eBooks have increased my book buying five-fold.
I have always been a devourer of books. And since I grew up I didn't like to check books out of the library because I never wanted to have to return them. So I would buy them.
Even when I lived in a 400 s.f. apartment in New York City (and yes that was fairly big) I had six bookshelves filled with books. Because there were no eReaders at the time. But when it came time to move and downsize (because toting books can get very expensive and be quite heavy) I had around 600 books to my name. Those were acquired over a lifetime, though most of those book purchases spanned ten years. I never gave my books away because I wanted them forever and ever.
And if you've ever read my post about lending, well then you'll know how well that ever worked for me. So lending was out.
But that averages about 50 books per year for the ten years, since I'd already owned 100. That's a book a week.
Well, since I got my first eReader in 2008, and I really didn't start buying books on it until 2009, I've managed to acquire close to 750 books. Ten of those were purchased back in 2008, and so the other 740 books were purchased in the past three years. That's about 250 books per year or 5 books per week on average.
Of course that doesn't include books on my other eReaders, or the 100+ books I have in print format. And I'm not adding in the countless books I've given away on the blog, because those aren't for my consumption.
The eReader makes it just so easy to click and the book is yours. There is no need to buy a new shelf. There is no requirement to have enough space to house upwards of 700 books. And you do not have to break your back toting those books when you move as often as I do.
...and you don't get yelled at for buying "so many damn books" when they're all nicely hidden on your Kindle, nook or iPad.
But I got kind of freaked out last night when I spent hours transferring my books to my new Kindle and got the grumpy comment from my dude asking, "How many eReaders is that for you now?" because it's shocking to think how much money I've spent on books and just how many books are actually unread.
So, while eBooks can be cheaper than hardback books, I'm much more likely to buy them at their pricepoint of $9.99, $10.99 or $11.99. I don't have to wait for coupons, I don't have to stand in line, the store doesn't have to be open, and in one single click the book is mine. So I don't have to even enter my credit card and see my money being taken from me.
Also, I don't have to find space for it in my tiny apartment and I don't have to worry about giving them away, damaging them or porting them from place to place.
And I don't really notice the quantity as I had when buying five or more books at a bookstore. I've been known to buy up to twenty eBooks in one sitting in under ten minutes when given a giftcard, whereas at a bookstore, it would probably have taken a few months for me to actually buy those books.
I may be only one book buyer, and may be way more OTT than some, but I do know that the ease of buying an eBook and the "one click" options probably affect more than just me and result in multi-book purchases. Why buy one when you can buy a series, right?
And no, I'm not a try and buy. I buy, then try.
And yes, I still do love print books and if this were a perfect world I would have a library with custom bookshelves and curl up with my favorite print books, but I'd have each and every one of those in electronic format, too.

Top Ten Tuesday: Dusty Tomes

Top Ten Tuesday is an original (and seriously awesome) feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish.

I am excited to keep participating in this meme because the topics just keep getting better and better (and more challenging) each week.

This week's topic is...

Top Ten Books That Have Been On My Shelf for Ages But I've Never Read

Oh thank goodness this week's post topic is easy. I know which books I've had on my eBook shelf forever, so this one will be super fun!

1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer was one of the very first books I bought for my Kindle. It, along with the sparkly vamps books, were suggested by a friend so I bought them with a gift card. And while I ended up reading the vampire novels, I just never got past the description for The Host and so it still sits, unread and unopened on my Kindle.

2. Dark Lover by J.R. Ward was another one of the first books I bought on the Kindle. Also a suggestion by the very same friend who suggested The Host. I started reading this book, got a few pages in, but it just didn't grab me at the time and I was never able to get back to it. Of course this one I really, really want to get back to.

3. The Beach House by Jane Green is another dusty book on the eBook shelves. I think I was still fondly remembering my love for Chick Lit when I bought this, but couldn't bring myself to read another one, and so it still sits there, unloved and unread.

4. Touching Darkness (Midnighters #2) by Scott Westerfeld is also an old-timer on the shelves. I read the first book in the series and was very intrigued. I own all three books, which I bought on the same day, so I also have book three in the series, but am only listing the one. I tried to read the second book, but it was right when I discovered books about angels and so was taken to new and different places and never got back to this series.

5. Ninth Grade Slays (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod #2) by Heather Brewer is another series that's been on the shelves for quite awhile. I read the first book and then purchased all subsequent books and continued to stalk these books after I started blogging. I haven't had a chance to read any but the first one, but I loved Vladimir Tod and hope to dust these off soon.

6. Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie #1) by Maggie Stiefvater is another oldie but goodie on the shelves. I wanted to read it right when I started blogging, since it had been around on my Kindle for some time, but I just didn't get a chance to pick it back up. Originally, it was those angels that pulled me away from this book and its sequel and then it was just blogging.

7. Divine Beginnings by P.C. Cast and all the rest of the books in this series are long-time residents of my eBook shelves. What stopped me from reading this series was the fact that I could never remember which book was first, then by the time I searched and found out, my attention was taken by other books. But I do own the whole series and hope to remember which is the first book when I sit down to read it.

8. Full Moon (Dark Guardian #2) by Rachel Hawthorne is another long-time resident of my eBook shelves. I read the first book in the series and loved it, but because they weren't all available for the Kindle when I first got into this series, I had to buy them through Sony for the P.C. But I had a tough time reading them on the P.C. through Sony's eReader app. And when I finally was able to buy them for the Kindle I just couldn't get around to picking them back up.

9. Intertwined by Gena Showalter has been on the pile for awhile, but I've really wanted to read this series badly and did purchase all books currently available and the rest as they released. I read the first fifty or so pages and was falling in love, but I had to set it aside during a brief non-reading period when I was moving and then never picked it back up. I plan on reading all books, but for now this book is covered in eBook cobwebs.

10. Rebel Angels (Gemma Doyle #2) by Libba Bray was one of those series slightly out of my comfort zone. I read the first book and loved it, but didn't immediately rush to read this sequel, yet I did purchase the entire series. I would like to read the rest of the series someday because Libba Bray is a wonderful author.

***
So, those are just ten of my many long-standing unread books on my eBook shelves. As I only started re-acquiring print books in late 2010, all of those print editions that remain unread are newbies in comparison.
I'd love to check out your top tens, so please leave a link if you'd like!