Waiting on Wednesday: Days of Blood and Starlight

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. This week’s choice is:

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publish Date: Nov. 6, 2012
Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads Summary: In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Why am I waiting on Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)? Daughter of Smoke and Bone was incredible! You can read my review here. It was easily one of my favorite books for 2012 and I have been anxiously awaiting the sequel ever since. Additionally, the cover of Days of Blood and Starlight is so beautiful and complements the first book perfectly. What books are you waiting on?

Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011

I’m so excited to be taking part in Top Ten Week hosted by Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic and Lisa from A Life Bound By Books and co-hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun and Jaime & Patricia from Two Chicks on Books. Even though Today is technically the second day of the event, I am playing a bit of catch up so you will see more ‘Top 10’ posts from me today.

I read so many great books this year that it was hard for me to pick my Top 10. I tried to narrow it down to books that were published in 2011 and these are the ones that were the most memorable for me:

10. Trial by Fire, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This book really surprised me, especially since it’s a sequel (which are usually not as good as the first book) AND I did not love the first in the series. Trial by Fire has tons of action and plot twists that I never saw coming. 

9. Half-Blood, by Jennifer Armentrout
I love mythology so it’s no surprise that more than one books with myth will pop up on my ‘Top 10’ list. I really enjoyed this story and I can’t wait for the sequel!

8. The Lost Saint, by Bree Despain
Technically, this was published at the very end of December 2010 but since I read it this year and loved it, I wanted to include it in my Top 10. While the relationship between the two main characters does hit a rough patch (as is typical in sequels), I still loved it. This entire series is a winner for me.

7. Waterfall, by Lisa T. Bergren
If you are looking for an adventure book with great romance, Waterfall has it all: time travel, gorgeous Italian warriors and kick-butt girls who fight with swords and bow and arrows! I really enjoyed reading this.

6. Delirium, by Lauren Oliver
Another genre that I love is dystopia and while I read and enjoyed many dystopian books this year, Delirium stood out to me mostly because of how beautifully Lauren Oliver writes. Of course, beautiful writing is nothing without an exciting plot and wonderful characters and Delirium has that too.

5. The Iron Queen, by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Fey series is one of my all time favorites and while I love all the books, The Iron Queen was my favorite.

4. Starcrossed, by Josephine Angelini
I can’t get enough Greek mythology and Starcrossed has a lot of what I love: sweeping romance, big feuding families, lots of fighting and great characters. I’m really looking forward to the sequel.

3. There You’ll Find Me, by Jenny B. Jones
There You’ll Find Me made me laugh and cry. It is an awesome feel good book that you don’t know you need until after you finish it. I adored this and can’t wait for the next book from this author.

2. Divergent, by Veronica Roth
There was so much hype about this book and it is very well deserved. It’s exciting and romantic with a crazy good ending that I did not see coming. It’s everything I want in my dystopia. 

1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor
Hands down my favorite of 2011. I had no idea what to really expect with Daughter of Smoke and Bone but I did not expect the awesomeness that I got. This is an intricately woven fantasy that I absolutely loved. The world building is excellent and the plot is fantastic. I cannot wait to read what Laini Taylor has in store for us in the sequel.

 Which books are in your ‘Top 10’ for 2011?

Most Memorable Spooky Reads

For the last day of the Halloween Queens Book Giveaway, I wanted to highlight some of my most memorable spooky reads. Don’t forget to enter to win The Iron Knight, Anna Dressed in Blood, Darker Still and Dark Eden. Also, stop by One Page at a Time where KM is giving away a copy of Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink.

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Nevermore starts out like other YA books set in high school but soon, the lines between a nightmarish dream world from Edgar Allan Poe’s stories and reality begin to cross. This book channels the creepiness of Poe’s stories with a cool YA spin. Oh yes, there is also Varen, the most swoon worth Goth guy ever! He’s another really great reason to read Nevermore….

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is not so much spooky as it surreal, dark and a bit bizarre, but in a fantastic way. The creep factor lies with the settings and the physical descriptions of the characters. This book is so cool and may be my favorite of the year unless another book comes along to blow me away sometime between now and December.

Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish

While is not my favorite spooky read, it is a very unique horror novel and worth reading. Savannah Grey is a 15-year-old who realizes that she is changing. Nature is turning her into a weapon against an evil that’s as old as the earth itself. Told from alternating perspectives, this book is entertaining and has some good plot twists. I have never read anything else like it.

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

In the mood for some romance with your spooky book? Hereafter offers you the romance between a ghost girl and a guy. In addition to the sweet relationship, it also has soul stealing ghosts and a haunted bridge thrown in for good measure. Like Anna Dressed in Blood, I am so curious about what kind of future the living have with the dead. I will definitely be reading this series to find out!

The Stand by Stephen King

I know I’m going old school here but this is the creepiest book I have ever read and even though it’s not YA, I read it when I was a teenager and yes, it scared the heck out of me. Honestly, this whole list could easily have been of Stephen King novels but I will stick to this one. The Stand is a combination of paranormal, science-fiction, horror and dystopia/apocalyptic. He just doesn’t write them like this anymore…



What are some of your most memorable spooky reads?

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Release Date: Sept. 27, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Pages: 420 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I wasn’t sure how to approach Daughter of Smoke and Bone at first. Both the summary and the book’s cover art are vague and then there is the hint that this may be an angel book, which I usually avoid. After reading enough reviews that assured me that the mythology is this book is different than what we traditionally associate with angels, I decided to give Daughter of Smoke and Bone a try. I’m very happy that I did. Easily, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of my favorite books of the year. 

Laini Taylor certainly has a way with words. Her writing is so vivid and the world building is incredible. While reading this book, I could very clearly imagine the scenes in Prague, Marrakesh, the city of Loramendi and even the battle fields on Eretz. And the characters! Karou is a fantastic main character, both vulnerable and fierce at the same time. And Akiva, oh Akiva…. His pain, anger and love are such real, visceral things that are awesomely written.

There are certain plot devices used in this book that usually annoy me (characters declaring love very quickly after meeting and stalkerish behavior), but Ms. Taylor makes it work and work well. The story is incredible and well plotted, the characters are amazing and well rounded.

As great as the characters and world building are, the thing about the book that I really love is the original, dark and fantastical story that Ms. Taylor has imagined and thankfully, shared with us. I don’t want to give too much away, this book is something you should experience on your own and fall in love with it as I did. The sequel, which comes out next year, is now at the top of my list for must read books in 2012.

Content: Implied sex, kissing, mild profanity and heavy violence. While this is marketed as a young adult novel, only Karou and her friend Zuzana are teenagers. Everyone else is an adult including Akiva and Karou’s ex-boyfriend, Kaz. Daughter and Smoke and Bone reads like an adult fantasy novel and may be more appropriate for older teens. 

My Rating: The Best!

In My Mailbox #2

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren. This week, I got the following books:

From the library:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Modelland by Tyra Banks (for a joint review with Lisa from Read. Breath. Relax)

For review:
Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel (Thank you, Random House and NetGalley)

I love my library and not that long ago, I got almost all my books from there. Then I discovered NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Galley Grab and could not resist getting a lot of books from these two awesome outlets which left me little time to read anything else. Unfortunately, I have been neglecting my library and so I am now trying to request less ARCs and borrow more library books. It will be hard but I am off to a great start this week and have even pushed Daughter of Smoke and Bone to the top of my list. I am half-way through it and so far, it is really good. What did you get in your mailbox?