Top 5 Best Book Covers: September 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
BEASTLY BONES
Book Series:  Jackaby, Book #1
Author:  William Ritter (Twitter)
Genre(s):  YA, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Release Date:  September, 2015

“I’ve found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I’ve known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality.”

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer R. F. Jackaby are called upon to investigate the supernatural.

First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan

Hosted By Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

Title: The Sword of Summer

Book Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1

Author: Rick Riordan (Twitter)

Genres: Middle Grade, Mythology, Fantasy,

Release Date: October 6, 2015

Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he's never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. His uncle tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

Why I Picked It:  Percy Jackson was too good of a series to not try this out. Plus, I love mythology. Ready for a new adventure!

 

Cover Characteristic: Toys

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. 

Cover Characteristic: Castles

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: 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: Cups

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: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #1) by Joseph Delaney

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: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

“THE highest point in the County is marked by mystery. It is said that a man died there in a great storm. while binding an evil that threatened the whole world. Then the ice came again, and when it retreated. even the shapes of the hills and the names of the towns in the valleys were changed now. At that highest point on the fells. no trace remains of what was done so long ago. But its name has endured. “They call it – The Wardstone.”

~ p. 1 

Book Review: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #1) by Joseph Delaney

REVENGE OF THE WITCH

Book Series: The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles, Book #1

Author: Joseph Delaney (Facebook)

Genres: YA, Middle Grade, Paranormal, Supernatural, Magic

Format: Hardcover (Amazon)

Length: 343 pages

Release Date: September 6, 2005

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

Reading Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Challenge

Capturing witches. Binding boggarts. Driving away ghosts. For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried-some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.

Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope; the last apprentice.

Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook's warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county... 

I enjoyed this book every much, especially all the illustrations. It served mostly as an introduction to the series, and I was okay with that. Delaney's writing style kept me interested, the plot being laid out with a nice rise and fall, slow pacing at just the right times then dialing up the action, which made my reading experience all the more enjoyable.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1) by Soman Chainani

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

Book Series: The School for Good and Evil, Book #1

Author: Soman Chainani (Twitter)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Format: Audiobook (Amazon | Audible)

Narrator: Polly Lee

Length: 13 hours & 46 minutes

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Reading Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Challenge, 2015 Audiobook Challenge

At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

OVERALL, I really enjoyed the story. The world was rich and vivid and unique. I didn't feel like it was something I had experienced before. Most importantly, the characters were complex and interesting. 

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?

 

Cover Characteristic: Bunnies/Rabbits

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

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

Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases I Meant To Read, But Didn't Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, as they are "particularly fond of lists".

This Week's Topic:

Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To

My Answer:

This list could be massive! But these are the books I was genuinely excited for but never got to. I spent much of 2014 revisiting my most beloved series from beginning to end. Especially the Harry Dresden series. I marathoned that 15-book series, and almost started from the beginning again. YEP, I was cray cray for rereading in 2014. But in 2015, these books right here, shall be read. Oh yes, they shall be read:

ZODIAC
Book Series:: Zodiac, Book #1
Author:: Romina Russell (Twitter)
Genre(s):: YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Astrology, Mythology

At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancerian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

WHY I PICKED IT:: L-O-V-E Astrology. I am an Aquarius -- a proud Aquarius (however, not in this universe, however, but I digress). So as soon as I read the synopsis, I was all over it. Granted, this book released last month, so it's not too bad I haven't read it yet. Besides the astrology angle, it sounds like a well-developed world. So ready to dive in.

         

Cover Characteristic: The Beginning (First Books In A Series)

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

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

The Friday 56: The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1) by Soman Chainani

"The Friday 56" is a weekly event, hosted by Freda's Voice:

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to Freda's Voice's Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.