writer's block

Author: Cassandra Clare
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Steampunk
Publication Date: December 6th, 2011
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In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them. 

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? 

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

YES! This is my very FIRST Top Ten Tuesday:) I really don't know what took me so long to finally participate, but I'm excited and hopefully I'll be able to make this a weekly edition to this blog.

Top Ten Books on My TBR List for Winter:

1. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare -- I'm in the middle of reading Clockwork Angel and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far! I'm definitely looking forward to her book signing next week!

2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver 

3. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and Johnathan Levitan -- Not only does it take place in New York City, but in the winter as well! PERFECT!

4. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

5. Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- Yeah, I have to read this before the movie comes out.

7. Fever by Lauren DeStefano -- Sqeee!!! I can't wait to read this since I can't believe I enjoyed the first book as much as I did! Haha

8. Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi

9. Cinder by Marissa Meyer -- This is a book I would totally read solely based on the cover... don't judge me!

10. Everneath by Brodi Ashton -- Why is this book not out yet? Come on already!!

Yay! I made it through my first TTT:) What's on your Top Ten? Leave me your link and I'll take a look.

Wow... it seems as though I haven't participated in Musing Mondays since Halloween>_< I already know one of my resolutions for the new year will be to be more active with this blog! Haha. Okay now on to this week's musing...

Will you be buying books for the holidays this year? If so, for whom and why?

I'm going to get a couple of friends a book or two because I know they've been wanting them. I can't divulge what those titles are because they read this blog;) 
I'm also thinking about getting a book for my family Secret Santa, but that's a huge maybe because I'm just going on this book craze of mine and I'm sure this person would probably want something else. Can't say for whom or what title(s) because a family member or two might come across this.

Oh and of course I'll be buying myself some books... even though I put myself on a book-buying ban. Still. I deserve to treat myself! Haha!

Hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, I thought this challenge would be a lot of fun. This would also be my first time participating so I'm also really excited!

The challenge runs from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013 and the goal is to read 12 YA debut author novels within that time. For more complete details you can click the banner above.

These are the books I plan on reading for this challenge...

Title: Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publishing Date: January 31

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Publishing Date: January 24


Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...


Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publishing Date: January 3

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Publishing Date: January 17

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.


Title: The Other Life
Author: Susanna Winnacker
Publishing Date: February 1

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world.

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Publishing Date: April 24

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publishing Date: January 3
Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY.

Title: Harbinger
Author: Sara Wilson Etienne
Publishing Date: February 2

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller.

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn’t expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she’s going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she’s come home. She’s even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she’s the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can’t trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her—and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

Title: Something Strange & Deadly
Author: Susan Dennard
Publishing Date: July 24

There’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

Title: Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse
Author: Lucas Klauss
Publishing Date: January 3

Phillip's sophomore year is off to a rough start. One of his best friends ditches him for a group of douchebags. His track coach singles him out for personalized, torturous training sessions. And his dad decides to clean out all of the emergency supplies from the basement, even though the world could end in disaster at any moment...and even though those supplies are all Phillip has left of his dead mom. Not that he wants to talk about that.

But then Phillip meets Rebekah. Not only is she unconventionally hot and smart, but she has seriously great boobs. And she might like him back.


As Phillip gets closer to Rebekah, he tries harder and harder to turn himself into the kind of person he thinks she wants him to be. But the question is, can he become that person? And does he really want to?


Title: The Vanishing Game
Author: Kate Kae Myers
Publishing Date: February 14

Jocelyn's twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes-and now he's dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from "Jason December"-the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn's childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.

But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house's powers weren't just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in? The answer is revealed in a shocking twist that turns this story on its head and will send readers straight back to page 1 to read the book in a whole new light.
Title: Hippocampus
Author: Tom Tancin
Publishing Date: June 26

Hippocampus was a 2010 Editor's Choice and Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Textnovel.com Contest! It was also a top 150 book on Inkpop.com in 2010.

Atlantis exists. Of course, you don't know this because it's hidden from our world. Eleven thousand years ago, the Greeks and Egyptians attacked Atlantis. In order to protect the island, Aruc, a sorcerer, created an illusion of the island sinking and then put a barrier in place to prevent outsiders from seeing or gaining access to Atlantis. But Aruc knew that the isolated island was not safe forever. In fact, he cast the very prophecy that predicted the bleak future of the island. His prophecy became known as Profiteia ek Epanastasi.


The sorcerer then designed a plan that would ensure the survival of the island he loved. For thousands of years, Atlantis continued in peace and prosperity with no need for the plan.

Sixteen years ago, the boy foreseen in Aruc's prophecy was born. Familiar with the Prophecy, and knowing that one day the boy would be needed to save Atlantis, the royal family sent the baby off the island to ensure his safety in the world outside Atlantis.

Today, the Knights of the Abyss wage war on Atlantis. Sixteen-year-old Trey Atlas is the only one that can stop them from destroying all that Atlantis stands for and, as a result, erasing his own mysterious past.

Lola dreams of becoming a great fashion designer and her outfits proves she has the talent and imagination for it. She has a happy life with her dads in the Castro District of San Francisco, a loyal best friend and an older rock musician boyfriend.

Everything is perfect. That is until the Bell family moves back next door. Although it's one particular Bell member that she will have to confront after having her heart broken since the last time he lived next door.

After having read Stephanie Perkins' first book, Anna and the French Kiss, I had incredibly high hopes for this one and it didn't disappoint! Fans of Anna will enjoy this as much or even more, as I did.

The characters were well written and Perkins' weaves in details of fashion so seamlessly which coincides with Lola's unique fashion sense, but without losing sight of the bigger story. Although I think that fashion plays a big role in this book- Lola's "dressing up" can be seen as her way to hide from her true self and what she really wants.

Cricket Bell is the one that she wanted since childhood. He's incredibly talented in his own way, as being a direct descendant of the most famous Bell of all and genuinely kindhearted  to all he meets- the epitome of the type of boy your parents wish you would take home.

What I really liked about Lola, is that this had more drama and situations that you believe can happen. Unlike Anna where it was almost too good to be true. The things Lola seems to have to deal with can be easily identified with a lot of people and it made her and the supporting characters all the more enjoyable to read... notably when a couple of familiar characters show up!

All in all it was a very good read and although I had more fun with Anna, this followup had more depth and felt more grown up. But it was predictable... even moreso than its predecessor, but still very much as delightful.


Rating: ★★★★ 4.5 stars