Top 5 Best Book Covers: November 2015

Top 5 Best Book Covers is monthly meme created by The Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The rules are simple: on the first Saturday of every month, post your 5 favorite books covers that are being released in the current month!

#1
WINTER
Book Series:  The Lunar Chronicles, Book #4
Author: Marissa Meyer (Twitter)
Genre(s): YA, Fairytale Retold, Dystopian
Release Date: November 10, 2015

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

 

 

Cover Characteristic: Water

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Cover Characteristic: Keys

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Cover Characteristic: Owls

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Book Beginnings & The Friday 56: Avalon (Avalon #1) by Mindee Arnett

Hosted By Rose City Reader & Freda's Voice

"Book Beginnings" is a weekly event that shares the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. "The Friday 56" is also a weekly event, sharing a sentence from page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.)


My Pick This Week:  Avalon by Mindee Arnett

“STEALING A SPACESHIP SHOULDN’T BE THIS EASY.

Jeth Seagrave peered around the corner and counted the number of sentries standing at the terminal into the docking bay. There were two of them, both sporting the tan uniforms of local guards, with matching bored expressions.

He slipped back before being spotted. Around him, Kordan Spaceport’s massive concourse, filled with restaurants, shops, and hotels, was mostly empty of people. Even in space, there was such a thing as nighttime.”

~ p. 1 

Top 5 Best Book Covers: July 2015

Top 5 Best Book Covers is monthly meme created by The Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The rules are simple: on the first Saturday of every month, post your 5 favorite books covers that are being released in the current month!

#1
SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK
Author:  Robert Beatty (Twitter)
Genre(s):  Middle Grade, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Release Date:  July 14, 2015

A spooky mystery-thriller about an unusual girl who lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate.
"Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there and they will ensnare your soul."

Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There's plenty to explore in the shadowed corridors of her vast home, but she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate's maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember.

But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is: a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore's corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore's owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak's true identity before all of the children vanish one by one.

Serafina's hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.

 

 

Cover Characteristic: Green Covers

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Cover Characteristic: Swords

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Cover Characteristic: Yellow Covers

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Top 5 Best Book Covers: May 2015

Top 5 Best Book Covers is monthly meme created by The Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The rules are simple: on the first Saturday of every month, post your 5 favorite books covers that are being released in the current month!

#1
RICOCHET
Author:  Keri Lake (Twitter) 
Genre(s):  Adult, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Release Date:  May 2015

The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.
Three years ago, I had everything.

A beautiful wife.
A son.
A reason for living.

Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.

They tried to kill me, too. I wish they had. Now I'm cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife.

A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.

I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who's seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.

Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife.

An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him.

If she doesn’t destroy me first.

 

Audiobook Review: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Adult)

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Author: Anthony Burgess

Genres: Classics, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Format: Audiobook (Amazon | Audible)

Narrator: Tom Hollander (Audible)

Length: 7 hours & 45 minutes

Book Club (Book of the Month): The OC Young, Fun and Nerdy Meetup: Nerds Read Books

Reading Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Challenge, 2015 Audiobook Challenge

n this 1962 classic, a novelistic exploration of modern crime and punishment, Alex is the 15-year-old leader of his gang of "droogs" thriving in the ultraviolent future as prophetically imagined by Burgess. Speaking a bizarre Russian-derived slang, Alex and his friends freely pillage and slash their way across a nightmarish urban landscape until Alex is captured by the judicial arm of the state. He then becomes their prized guinea pig in a scientific program to completely "redeem" him for society. If we had the power of absolute criminal reform, what, the novel asks, would this mean for our ideals of freedom and society?

This edition reinstates the final chapter missing from Kubrick's film and , in which Alex is on the verge of starting a family as he reflects on--and completely rejects--his adolescent nastiness. It also includes Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."

FIRST IMPRESSION:: I wish I would've read it in high school. But I guess with all the violence and other unlawful activities, I can understand why I didn't. That said, I still wish it was so. I found it this book to be thought-provoking, enjoyable read.

It’s Monday What Are You Reading?: 04/13/15

Hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey

This meme shares what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week. It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list.

This week wasn't too bad. I didn't blog much to get some reading done. I'm halfway through the majority of these books, so that''s good. Soon, I'll switch to one audiobook, one physical. At least, that's the plan.

• Cover Characteristic: Numbers
• It’s Monday What Are You Reading?: 04/06/15
• Making Up for Monday: Read Anything...
• Nearly Found (Nearly Gone #2) by Elle Cosimano

Cover Characteristic: Black Covers

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

It’s Monday What Are You Reading?: 04/06/15

Hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey

This meme shares what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week. It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list.

Last week wasn't so great for progress. 

Work kicked my butt, so I didn't get much complete, save for finishing A Shade of Vampire which wasn't even in the queue. But the audiobook was teensy, so...

• Cover Characteristic: Pink Covers
• 2015 Audiobook Challenge - 1st Quarter Update
• It’s Monday What Are You Reading?: 03/30/15
• Making Up for Monday: Authors I Refuse to Read
• "Waiting On" Wednesday: Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert
• Quickie Review: A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) by Bella Forrest
• Top 5 Best Book Covers: April 2015

Making Up for Monday: Read Anything...

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, there will be a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week and write a post that day based on that question.

This Week's Topic/Question:

Do you have an author you will read anything they put out? 

My Answer:

I do. In fact, I have five! My favorite authors are Jim Butcher, Nalini Singh, Lorelei James, Molly and Richelle Mead. I've read (most of) at least one series for each. I've been incredibly lucky to have met all but Lorelei and they're all lovely people. I'll be happy to continue supporting their careers!

JIM BUTCHER
The Dresden Files series (Urban Fantasy)

I got introduced to Jim's books through The Dresden Files audiobooks, as they're narrated by Jim Marsters. As a former Buffy fan, how could I not listen to a series narrated by Spike?!?! It's become my favorite series and I'm all caught up (18 books so far).

Codex Alera series (High Fantasy)

I own all of the Codex Alera series, though haven't started it yet. I plan to start it this year.

The Cinder Spires series (Steampunk)
I'm so excited for The Cinder Spires (released this fall), as it will be my first Steampunk novel. Who better to introduce me to the genre!

Quickie Review: The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

Author: M.R. Carey (Twitter)
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic, Horror, Zombies

Format: Audiobook (Amazon | Audible)

Narrator: Finty Williams

Length: 13 hours & 4 minutes

Release Date: June 10, 2014

Book Club (March Book of the Month): Nerds and Novels (SoCal Chapter)

Reading Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Challenge, 2015 Audiobook Challenge

NOT EVERY GIFT IS A BLESSING.

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Damn. That was one hell of an ending.

Audiobook Review: Strike (The SYLO Chronicles #3) by D.J. MacHale

STRIKE

Book Series: The SYLO Chronicles, Book #3
Author: D.J. MacHale (Facebook | Twitter)

Genres: YA, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Mystery

Format: Audiobook (Amazon | Audible)

Narrators: Andrew Bates

Length: 12 hours & 12 minutes

Release Date: March 25, 2014

Reading Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Challenge, 2015 Audiobook Challenge

#1 New York Times bestselling author D.J. MacHale is back with the third book in the SYLO Chronicles. Once again, Tucker Pierce and friends must fight for their lives against the better-equipped SYLO. All bets are off in Strike—with twists so big readers will never see them coming—while the action and pulse-pounding suspense remain as high as ever. Fans will be sure to devour this incredibly satisfying conclusion.

OH MY GOSH, WHAT AN EPICALLY SPECTACULAR ENDING!!! I loved this series so much; dystopian at it's best.

Cover Characteristic: Masquerade

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

Top 5 Best Book Covers: March 2015

Top 5 Best Book Covers is monthly meme created by The Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The rules are simple: on the first Saturday of every month, post your 5 favorite books covers that are being released in the current month!

#1
Title:  Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked
Author:  Jen Calonita (Twitter) 
Genre:  Middle Grade, Fairy Tales, Magic
Release Date:  March 3, 2015

Would you send a villain to do a hero's job? An exciting new twisted fairy tale series from award-winning author Jen Calonita.

Full of regret, Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Flora, has founded the Fairy Tale Reform School with the mission of turning the wicked and criminally mischievous into upstanding members of Enchantasia.

Impish, sassy 12-year-old Gilly has a history of petty theft and she's not too sorry about it. When she lifts a hair clip, she gets tossed in reform school-for at least three months. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there's more to this school than its sweet mission. There's a battle brewing and she starts to wonder: can a villian really change?