The Best Books Ever

Tiger's Destiny By Colleen Houck Published by Splinter Published on September 2012 Source: ARC from Publisher for review Summary taken from Goodreads : With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.  It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers' true destinies once and for all. A smart  phone tag code on the back cover links readers to the series website. This series... THIS SERIES.   It just slays me with it's awesomeness.  I swear, each book gets better and bette...

We're going to switch topics entirely this week and talk about time travel.  Our choices for Best Book Ever should prove pretty soundly that time travel isn't just for sci-fi any more!  Check it out! At the risk of sounding like a total fan-girl after first admitting to pity for Black Jack Randall and then gushing over Jamie Fraser, I have to admit that OUTLANDER is (of course) my favorite time travel book of er... all time. I adore it because Gabaldon more or less says, "Hey, she traveled through time, okay? Deal." There's not a lot of explanation involved, and I totally buy it as a reader. A close second would be the adventures of Charles Wallace in A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET as well as the less well known romp of the twins Sandy and Denys in the Biblical world of MANY WATERS . Mindy McGinnis , debut author of  Not A Drop To Drink  (2013, Katherine Tegen) I know its suppose to be Best BOOK ever, but you ask which is my favorite time-travel and the...

It's been a little while, hasn't it?  I've still got a lot of books to read, though.  Thanks to everyone who weighed in last time.   God Save the Queen and Unspoken were the winners, and you'll be seeing reviews of those shortly. Check out this week's selection of books, both new and old, and tell me which one you think I should bump to the top of my to-read pile! Ironskin, by Tina Connolly Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin. When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is sti...

Midnight in Austenland By Shannon Hale Published by Bloomsbury Published on January 31, 2012 Summary taken from Goodreads : When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies. Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in...

Going Underground By Susan Vaught Published on September 13, 2011 Published by Bloomsbury Source: Finished copy from publisher Summary from author's website : Meet Del.  He’s a good guy.  He has a great parrot.  He has a decent (okay, weird) job, a lot of dreams–and absolutely no future at all. At seventeen, he’s a felon without many options, and he’s almost okay with it. Almost. Until he meets Livia and wants much, much more of what life has to offer. Del must face his past and his fears to move forward, even though a sea of complications threatens to bring the world crashing down around him again.  My thoughts... Over the course of the book, we flip back and forth between the present -- a hopeless 17-year old Del, trying to keep his head down and go unnoticed by just about everyone -- and the past -- a 14-year old Del, with a girlfriend and a close-knit group of friends and hopes and dreams for the future.  That was before Del got in seriou...

Princess Academy #2 - Palace of Stone By Shannon Hale Published by Bloomsbury To be Published on: August 21, 2012 Summary taken from Goodreads : Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she "should "help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where "Princess Academy "left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a be...

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her. At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never in...

I'm Bored By Michael Ian Black  Published by Simon and Schuster Published on September 2012 Source: Galley from Publisher Summary taken from Goodreads: There is NOTHING boring about being a kid, but one little girl is going to have to prove it in this anything-but-boring picture book from comedian Michael Ian Black. Just when a little girl thinks she couldn’t possibly be more bored, she stumbles upon a potato who turns the tables on her by declaring that children are boring. But this girl isn’t going to let a vegetable tell her what’s what, so she sets out to show the unimpressed potato all the amazing things kids can do. Too bad the potato is anything but interested…. This tongue-in-cheek twist on a familiar topic is sure to entertain anyone who’s ever been bored—or had to hear about someone else being bored—and is filled with comedian Michael Ian Black’s trademark dry wit, accompanied by charismatic illustrations from newcomer Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Coranne...

We talked about bad guys on last week's Best Book Ever, so it makes sense of course that this week, we're talking about the good guys!   This week on Best Book Ever, I wanted to talk about bad guys .  Who can resist a hero, a knight in shining armor, or even someone who just does little things to make the world better. Here are some of our favorite heroes. This is such a hard topic! I have so many fictional heroes. If I have to pick one in children's literature, it would be Hermione Granger . She's smart as hell, the best friend you could ever have, and has such a pure heart. Oh, and she fights the most evil wizard of all time, of course! If I had to pick one in adult literature, it would be Fanny Price from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park . She has an infallible moral and intellectual compass and ends up being the most valued person in her snobby, adoptive family. Lydia Kang ,  debut author of Control  (2013, Dial/Penguin) In keeping with my choice...

Wide Open  By Deborah Coates Published on March 13, 2012 Published by Tor Source: Finished copy from publisher Summary from Goodreads : When Sergeant Hallie Michaels comes back to South Dakota from Afghanistan on ten days' compassionate leave, her sister Dell's ghost is waiting at the airport to greet her. The sheriff says that Dell's death was suicide, but Hallie doesn't believe it. Something happened or Dell's ghost wouldn't still be hanging around. Friends and family, mourning Dell's loss, think Hallie's letting her grief interfere with her judgment.   The one person who seems willing to listen is the deputy sheriff, Boyd Davies, who shows up everywhere and helps when he doesn't have to.   As Hallie asks more questions, she attracts new ghosts, women who disappeared without a trace.  Soon, someone's trying to beat her up, burn down her father's ranch, and stop her investigation. Hallie's going to need Boyd,...

The Goddess Legacy By Aimee Carter Published by Harlequin Teen Published on July 31, 2012 Source: Netgalley Summary taken from Goodreads : For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aime e Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows. Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness.... Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal.... Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another.... James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others-but never knew true loss before.... Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.... Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages. Instead of a cover analysis this time, I wa...

Pushing the Limits By Katie McGarry Published on July 31, 2012 Publshed by Harlequin Teen Source: Netgalley Summary from Goodreads : "I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked. So wrong for each other...and yet so right. No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life ...

Dark Companion By Marta Acosta Published by Tor Published on July 3, 2012 Source: Finished Copy from Publisher Summary taken from Goodreads: When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove. Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother. The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the lon...