Me on In My Mailbox (53)

In My Mailbox is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. :)

There's always so much buildup to Christmas, then once it's over it all disappears. A little sad, but that's how it always works with holidays. Christmas and my birthday was fun, like every year. A bunch of fun presents followed by turkey and gravy and making the little mountain with mashed potatoes, then an apple cakey pie dessert my sister made. Then a bunch of hockey-watching with a couple tournaments starting on the 26th. I've been doing the loyal Canadian thing: watching hockey for Christmas and New Year's. ;)

I didn't get any books until my birthday, but I did get some iTunes giftcards, some poofy socks, a calendar, some new notebooks, some clothes, and the book version of Scrabble (which can be really tricksy but also fun).

I'm not going to do a best of 2011 list. If you know me here and on Twitter, you know which books totally ruined me for other books and which were amazing. :) And which books I'm desperate to read in 2012. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the underrated books of 2011 post, either through Twitter or e-mailing. I'm thinking it'll become a yearly thing, so keep a look out during the year for underrated books and they could make next year's list. :)

There'll be a review up on Monday for The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight instead of on Tuesday, and Friday's review will be for A Million Suns. Maybe if I start telling you, you'll remember to stop by and give it a read.

Happy New Year's, people. :)

Received as presents:
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Received:
Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis (I adore nice authors, especially ones I meet for all of 5 seconds before they have to rush off to take their injured husbands to the hospital, which is how I met Phoebe back in July and how I got a copy of her first book. She was sweet enough to send me an ARC of her next book that both looks and sounds awesome.)

Bought:
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (middle grade)
Dream Dark by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (e-book)

Borrowed from the library:
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris (e-book)
All You Desire by Kirsten Miller (e-book)

To read & review: Anna Dressed in Blood, Incarnate, Born Wicked, Someone Else's Life, The Fine Art of Truth or Dare, A Touch Morbid, Immortal City, Glimmer, Gone, Gone, Gone, Glimmer, and Never Enough. :) Comment below if you'd like to see reviews of Liesl & Po, Bad Taste in Boys and Clockwork Prince, there are some gaps in my review schedule that I need to fill.

Me on Cinder

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan imprint)

Cinder, while being a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. A second-class citizen with a mysterious past, she's reviled by her stepmother and blames for her stepsister's illness. But when her life suddenly becomes intertwined with Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre 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 the world's future.

A futuristic re-telling of the classic Cinderella tale, Cinder is both magical and intriguing, perhaps a little creepy in a futuristic way. There were times when it felt cold or harsh, unwilling to comfort Cinder when she needed help, but it was still like a fairy tale.

By mixing the fairy tale with such a disturbing and different time than the one we live it, it added another layer to the story. A horrific disease, medical experimentation, implanting machine parts in human beings, people living on the moon. Is this what the world will become in 100 years? Maybe 500 or 1000 years? Will we still be human then, or will we be something else?

Cinder was quite possibly my favourite part of the book. As the heroine of a YA novel, you expect her to be flawed, to be different than others, to be relatable as a girl with family problems, unsure of who she is or what she's capable of, and has a crush on an unattainable guy. Most, if not all, teenage readers will have something in common with Cinder. What I liked about her so much was that she was so strong, no pun intended concerning her cyborg parts. Consistently beaten down, she still found a way to climb back up, to keep on going even when things were at their hardest.

Finding a book that has a third person point of view is so refreshing. Yes, it can limit how in depth we can go into the character, but it also gives insight into more than just one person. The chapters that focused on Prince Kai and included Queen Levana hinted at the other sides of the story, the sides that Cinder couldn't see and was unaware of.

This was a storyline that kept shifting and changing, always surprising. It kept me reading right to the end when I wanted to demand to know what happened next. I'm gladly looking forward to the next book, the rest of the series, and anything else Marissa Meyer might write.

(I received an e-galley to review from Macmillan through NetGalley.)

Me on Underrated YA Books of 2011

I've read a lot of books this year, some I loved, some I didn't. Some of those books also had a lot of publicity, and some didn't. This is for the books that not a lot of us read, those diamonds in the rough, the lesser-knowns, the ones who didn't end up on best-seller lists but popped up in indie bookstores as staff recommendations. This is for the mid-list authors who tell amazing stories. This is for the single copies sitting alone on the shelf in the bookstore.

First is a list of books I felt were both underrated and under-read this past year, followed by other bloggers and their picks. Feel free to add more in the comments below. :)

My picks:
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Amplified by Tara Kelly
Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
Possess by Gretchen McNeil
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
Forgotten by Cat Patrick
Ripple by Mandy Hubbard
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Falling in Love with English Boys by Melissa Jensen (I'm cheating a little, this book came out late 2010)
Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Entangled by Cat Clarke
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Caitlin at WhatchYAReading suggested Entwined by Heather Dixon.

Cat at Books4Hearts recommends Lena Coakley's Witchlanders.

Ashley at Book Labyrinth suggested Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien, Small Town Sinners by Melissa C. Walker, Karma by Cathy Ostlere, Warped by Maurissa Guibord, and Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer.

Jessica from Shut Up! I'm Reading offered up Pink by Lili Wilkinson.

Liz at Midnight Bloom Reads suggested Holly Schindler's Playing Hurt.

Giselle over at BookNerd was quick to recommend Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield.

2012 debut YA author Kathleen Peacock named Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard. (Also, remember to look for Kathleen's book Hemlock when it comes out in June.)

Kathy at A Glass of Wine has two choices, books I've both read and loved so much. 

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma: "I know most people might be leery of reading this due to the subject matter, but this book really is a must read. It's raw, brutal, heart-breaking and gorgeously written. It's one of those books that rips out your insides, but leaves you aching for more. You won't forget Lochan and Maya's story but that is exactly why you should read it."

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: "You might be saying, "but everyone talked about this book and loved it." Yes, this is true. The blogging community did talk about it and did love it. However, if I were to go to my local bookstore I might find one copy, if I am lucky. This book is so amazing that it really deserves to have a larger audience. Stephanie manages to capture the feeling of  first loves - all the butterflies, insecurity and heartache that comes along with it. Her writing is magical, and leaves you a swooning teenager by the happily ever after ending."

Kelly from KellyVision suggests a book I've never heard of, which is the whole point of this post. :)

The best YA contemporary novel I read this year was The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner. It's clever, sweet and a little sad and is about friendship and love. How could you not love a book like that?

Erica at The Book Cellar recommends the first book in a new series.

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep: this book was the start to an amazing series, filled with wonderful characters, a cool take on mythology and a brilliant plot. I definitely don't feel this one got the attention it deserved! It is one of my new favorite series, and I absolutely just love it!

Salom suggests a rather different sort of book:

Of the new YA I've read this year, The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey is the book that's stayed with me the longest. I'm not super into Victoriana; I hate gore; I don't like books with sad endings. The Isle of Blood has all three elements in spades, and I thought it was fantastic -- sophisticated horror that frightens because of the choices its characters make, not because of the monsters they destroy. If you like a philosophical bent to your uneasiness, this is the book (and the series) for you. Plus, there's a cameo by Rimbaud! How many YA novels can you say have that?

Chandra, in her capacity as the person behind @IndigoTeenBlog discussing everything possible about YA books for ChaptersIndigo, the big box bookstore in Canada, has written a post on her top 10 teen books of 2011. While some of these aren't necessarily underrated, they all made Chandra connect emotionally to them, which means they're worth checking out. You can find her post here. :) One of her big suggestions is Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood.

I hope you enjoyed this, hope you've added some books to your to read list for 2012, and maybe I'll do this again next year. :)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (58)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: The Waiting Sky
Author: Lara Zielin
Release Date: August 2, 2012
Publisher: Putman Juvenille (Penguin imprint)

From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Jane can’t quite face her mother’s alcoholism even though it sucks to spend all her time and energy keeping them afloat—making sure her mom gets to work, that the bills are paid when there’s money to pay them, and that no one knows her mom is so messed up. But when Jane’s mom drives drunk almost killing both them and Jane’s best friend, Jane can no longer deny her mom is spiraling out of control. Jane has only one place to turn: her older brother Ethan, who left years ago to go to college. A summer away with him and his tornado chasing buddies may just provide the time and space she needs to figure out whether her life still includes her mother.

This sounds like one of those contemporary YA novels that intrigue me for some bizarre reason. It sounds interesting, the cover looks bright and sharp and striking. Most of the reason I want this book is because of the cover. Gorgeous. If you have this, read it, then don't know what to do with it, feel free to offer it to me. :)

Me on Unraveling Isobel

Title: Unraveling Isobel
Author: Eileen Cook
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Isobel's life kinda sucks. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet, and he's moving them out to his huge gothic mansion on some small island off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye best friend and life, hello icky stepfather, granola town, and off-limits good-looking step-brother. But on her first night, she's wondering if her life isn't the only thing that's unraveling, if maybe it's her sanity as well. Isobel's either losing her mind, like her father did, or she's really seeing ghosts.

Such a welcome mix of a book, mysterious and haunting but still romantic and funny. A main reason I enjoy reading Eileen Cook's novels is because of the humour, and this book is proof that you can add humour to a mystery semi-psycho-thriller of a YA novel without making it seem forced.

Isobel was perfect as an out of place girl shoved into a new environment. She knows what she wants, what she likes, where she fits in at her old school, but stick her in a new one because of her weird stepfather and the rest of the school sees her as fresh meat. And she doesn't care about being popular. If only every teenage girl felt the same way. She just wants to survive and get back to her friend when they go to university.

I loved how it took almost no time for this book to be creepy, how the haunting and the mystery started on Isobel's first night in the half-rotten mansion. No waiting for her to get settled. When was Isobel ever settled in this book? Almost never, maybe except for the moments with her gorgeous step-brother. (They're step-siblings. They just met each other (pretty much). It's not gross. This isn't Forbidden.)

What also drew me in, besides the Gothic mansion and the haunting creepiness and the cute step-brother who was one of those sweet loner guys, was the way the author created confusion with the creepy and Isobel's family history of mental instability. Knowing her father has a mental disorder, knowing she might one day suffer from the same disease, creates that unreliability that keeps the reader interested until the end. Is the mansion really haunted or is Isobel suffering from some kind of hallucination? Is she sane or is her mind turning on her?

Such a refreshing and unique mystery of a book. I was glued to the screen reading every word (I read the e-galley on my e-reader) and never wanted it to end. The world-crafting was great, the character-building was great, the plot was surprising and amazing. I was sad when the book ended. I wanted more. That should be the reaction of every reader when they read a book they loved.

(I found an e-galley of this book in the S&S Galley Grab newsletter. I plan on buying my own copy because I enjoyed it so much.)