Top Ten Tuesday: [Fourteen] most anticipated NON-DEBUTS from the first half of 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016

A few weeks ago, I listed the Top Ten Debut Novels from the Beginning of 2016 I’m Looking Forward to so today I’m only going to be listing NON-DEBUT titles from the first half of 2016 that I’m really excited to read. There was no way I could narrow this down to only ten, so you’ve got my top fourteen most anticipated non-debuts from the first half of 2016. 🙂

THE RAVEN KING by Maggie Stiefvater [April 26]

THIS SAVAGE SONG by V.E. Schwab [June 7]

THE ROSE & THE DAGGER by Renee Ahdieh [May 3]

A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas [May 3]

THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING by Morgan Matson [May 3]

WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT by April Genevieve Tucholke [March 22]

STARS ABOVE by Marissa Meyer [February 2]

THANKS FOR THE TROUBLE by Tommy Wallach [February 23]

DENTON LITTLE’S BIRTHDATE by Lance Rubin [April 12]

WE ARE THE ANTS by Shaun David Hutchinson [January 19]

PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken [January 5]

UNHOOKED by Lisa Maxwell [February 2]

EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR by E.K. Johnston [March 15]

RUN by Kody Keplinger [June 28]

What book releases are you looking forward to in the first half of 2016?

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten New-To-Me Favorite Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015

I’ve decided to exclude 2015 debut authors for this list because they’d make up more than half of it. I’m going with authors who’ve written several books, but I read them for the first time this year. Titles either linked to my review or to Goodreads.

Kirsty Logan
What I’ve read: The Gracekeepers | A Portable Shelter | The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales

Marissa Meyer
What I’ve read: Cinder | Scarlet | Cress | Fairest | Currently reading: Winter

Andrew Smith
What I’ve read: The Alex Crow | 100 Sideways Miles

Sarah J. Maas
What I’ve read: Throne of Glass | A Court of Thorns and Roses

William Ritter
What I’ve read: Jackaby | Beastly Bones

Holly Black
What I’ve read: Doll Bones | The Darkest Part of the Forest | The Iron Trial

Emily Winfield Martin
What I’ve read: The Wonderful Things You’ll Be | Dream Animals | Day Dreamers

Authors who’ve written more than one book, but I’ve only read one SO FAR

Leigh Bardugo
What I’ve read: Shadow and Bone

V.E. Schwab
What I’ve read: A Darker Shade of Magic

Jandy Nelson
What I’ve read: I’ll Give You the Sun

What new-to-you authors did you read this year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books I’ve Read So Far in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2015

According to my Goodreads challenge, I’ve read almost 80 books already in 2015. How can I possibly trim that down to TEN favorites? I got it down to fourteen, which is about as good as it’ll get. It was hard enough to do that. Haha.

                    

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas [realized I never reviewed this one while compiling this list! Oops. Rest assured: I loved it | GR]
My Heart & Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga [My review | GR]
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab [My review | GR]
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli [My review | GR]
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig [My review | GR]

                    

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley [My review | GR]
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio [My review | GR]
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia [My review | GR]
A Court of Thorns at Roses by Sarah J. Maas [My review | GR]
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson [review soon | GR]

               

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan [My review | GR]
Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu [My review | GR]
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh [review soon | GR]
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins [My review | GR]

Tell me your favorite books you’ve read so far this year!

ARC Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Author:  Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance/New Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Publication Date: May 5, 2015

416 pages, ARC & Hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to the wonderful Little Shop of Stories for letting me take this ARC! Check them out if you’re ever in Decatur, GA!

Can you say SEXY? I mean, goodness, I was not expecting this book. I’ve got to start with romance in ACOTAR because it’s…seductive. I don’t want you to think that the whole thing is full of sex or anything; it’s just that those few scenes are hot hot hot. Tamlin will make you SWOON. But he isn’t the only character who you’ll fall for. There’s plenty of sexy characters to completely fall in love with, including our kick-ass heroine, Feyre (what an awesome name!).

The world building is stunning, as was expected. The fairie courts and world are so interesting and well-done that I could’ve pictured the land without the addition of the map (though I’m a sucker for a book with a map). I hope we get to see even more of this world in the next book (WHICH NEEDS TO COME OUT TOMORROW!). I just LOVED this world of fairies, beasts, flowers, art, magical eyes, darkness, beautiful manors, Tamlin, Rhys, and magic magic magic. Quick little shout out to our weirdly attractive anti-hero Rhys. I won’t go into much detail here other than to say GET READY.

You may or may not know that this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Because of it, it’s obvious what is going to happen from the beginning. You know who Feyre’s going to fall in love with, but the path getting there and what happens after is so absolutely amazing, different, and cool that it doesn’t matter. The world, the characters, the magic are all unique, but it definitely still feels like a fairy tale.

The bottom line: Incredible world. Fantastic retelling. Beautiful magic. Awesome characters. SEXY times. Well-deserved hype. I NEED more.

Rating: 9 – practically perfect

Top Ten Tuesday: Inspiring Quotes from Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books (anything that inspires you, challenges you, makes you think, encourages you, etc.)

“No one will understand you. It is not, ultimately, that important. What is important is that you understand you.”
– Matt Haig, The Humans

“We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.”
– D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

“It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.”
– J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

“What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”
– John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

“Make sure, as often as possible, you are doing something you’d be happy to die doing.”
– Matt Haig, The Humans

“Comfort zones are overrated. They make you lazy.”
– Melina Marchetta, Saving Francesca

“Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”
– Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
– Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“Pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
– Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.”
– Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I have SO many more quotes that I love, but I forced myself to limit it to ten. What quotes inspire you?

Waiting on Wednesday – A Court of Thorns and Roses

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Release date: May 5, 2015

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Why I’m excited: Seriously, who isn’t waiting on this one? I feel like almost everyone in the book blogging world is looking forward to it, and I am seriously jealous of everyone who’s received an ARC of A Court of Thorns and Roses (they all came with a beautiful mask). I feel like all I keep seeing on Twitter is “AHHH! I love ACOTAR!! It’s amazing!” and then I just feel the NEED all over again. Beauty and the Beast, fairies, a kick ass heroine, magic, Sarah J. Maas? I don’t really need anything else, honestly. It sounds really awesome, and I can’t wait to read it! Also, it’s “sexy and action-packed”? Can I have this NOW, please?