Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
So here is my definition of a beach read: mind candy. I don’t want anything in the way of emotional upheaval, and I just want to laugh a little. My brain doesn’t want to have to work hard to process anything. So here are my top ten beach reads, in no particular order.
Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine!
Title: Of Triton
Author: Anna Banks
Release Date: May 28th, 2013
Summary from Goodreads: In this sequel to OF POSEIDON, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.
As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?
The End of the Year Book Survey is hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner.
So, I found this survey on the blogosphere and thought, “You know, this would be awesome.” So I’m going to do it. Hopefully it’ll become an annual thing, and will help you guys find some new books to read. Oh, and cheating is going to be rampant.
1. Best Book You Read In 2012?
Cheating on the first question, ALRIGHT! Here’s my Top Ten Books I Read in 2012!
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Erm, there were a few of these. Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins was one of them. The blogosphere blew up about it but I … wasn’t on board as much. Same with Defiance by CJ Redwine. I wanted so much more out of that one. More recently, Prophecy by Ellen Oh. I liked all these, I just expected more.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, most definetly. The way it’s written, I should hate it. But I LOVE IT.
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
Depending on the person, it’s probably a tie between Code Name Verity and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.
5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
Oof. That’s a hard one. What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang? Throne of Glass? Grave Mercy by R. L. LaFevers? The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa? I can’t pick one!
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Nina Berry (Otherkin), Kat Zhang (What’s Left of Me), Jodi Meadows (Incarnate), Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass), Jay Kristoff (Stormdancer)– I should probably stop at some point.
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. I don’t particularly like contemporary YA and am very cynical about YA romance, but this one just turned me into a marshmellow.
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Ohmygod.
9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. THE IDIGO SPELL IS COMING!
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?
Basically, my one goal here was to avoid a girl in a dress and that was REALLY HARD. This is Crewel by Gennifer Albin!
11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Eva and Addie from What’s Left of Me. These are two girls in one body. IT WAS FANTASTIC.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Hands down.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Code Name Verity for sure. Also Pushing the Limits.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Yeah, I know, it’s THAT BAD.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
ARE YOU CRAZY THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE? Uh.
“And this, even more wonderful and mysterious, is also true: when I read it, when I read what Julie’s written, she is instantly alive again, whole and undamaged. With her words in my mind while I’m reading, she is as real as I am. Gloriously daft, drop-dead charming, full of bookish nonsense and foul language, brave and generous. She’s right here. Afraid and exhausted, alone, but fighting. Flying in silver moonlight in a plane that can’t be landed, stuck in the climb—alive, alive, ALIVE.”
– Code Name Verity
“Her shoulders never shook. No tears streamed down her face. The worst type of crying wasn’t the kind everyone could see–the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.”
– Pushing the Limits
“The hand on my hair moved to my back, and I realized someone was singing softly. The voice was familiar, and something about it made my chest ache. Well, that was to be expected. Angels’ songs would be awfully poignant.
“‘I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you…'” the voice crooned.
I frowned. Was that really an appropriate song for the Heavenly Host to be–”
– Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
(I think I’ll stop here…)
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
Longest: Literary Theory: Anthology = 1,314 pages
Shortest: Shadowed Ground by Vicki Keire = 120 pages
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. AGGHGHGHGH GUYS IT HAPPENED AND THEN AGHGHGHGH.
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
Endlessly by Kiersten White, because EVIE AND LEND. But also Syndey and Adrian from The Golden Lily. But then there’s Noah and Echo in Pushing the Limits. And Sophie and Archer from Spell Bound. And Ellie and Will from Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton.
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare or Wings of the Wicked or Spell Bound.
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, thanks to THE ENTIRE BLOGOSPHERE.
I’m going to hold this here because wow this is already long, but there are plenty of other questions about blogging and stuff on the whole thing, so check out The Perpetual Pageturner for more questions and blogs!
Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks
Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen’s not fully convinced that Emma’s the one he’s been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves that Emma and her Gift may be the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help–no matter what the risk.
4 1/2 stars
You know, there was a day when I swore I would never hop onto the mermaid trend. I mean, I’m a Disney girl through and through but I never even really liked The Little Mermaid. But I kept seeing my blogger friends everywhere loving it, so some force unknown it to me caused me to buy it.
And boy am I so glad that I did.
You know how I knew Emma and I were going to be best friends? On page one, she describes herself as being as clumsy as an “intoxicated walrus.” Those of you who are unfortunate enough to know me in person know that SO AM I. Add clumsiness, coupled great personality and snark, and I was hooked on Emma before the story even really started.
And then the story STARTED. With a shark attack.
To be fair, the rest of the novel didn’t really have that level of action at all, but it certainly had enough to invest me into the story. I did feel like the ramifications of the shark attack were dealt with too quickly, but I can at least understand the reasoning.
Despite a promising beginning and an instant connection with Emma, I wasn’t as quick to catch onto Galen, his sister and his sister’s husband. His sister came off as too bratty for too long before getting some depth, and her husband just wasn’t given a chance to shine despite definite star quality. I honestly can’t tell if I didn’t like Galen for characterization reasons or the POV drama that was going on.
See, for starts, the book itself is written entirely in present tense. That’s a difference in and of itself. But then the chapters, which switched back and forth between Galen and Emma’s POV, switched back and forth between first person present (Emma) and third person present (Galen). For the first couple of chapters especially, that was ridiculously jarring.
Yeah, yeah, I know, this is a four and a half star review and I’m sounding overly critical, right? What made me rate it so highly then?
For starters, Emma. Emma is hysterical and I love her and I want her as my best friend. She’s pig-headed, temperamental and has a fantastic narrator’s voice. Sure, she falls for the whole insta-love thing with Galen, but she sure is vicious when she doesn’t get her way. Despite being head over heels for Galen, she sure as heck isn’t going to let him run her life. Now that’s refreshing.
The mythology of the story is also really interesting. We got to learn so much about Banks’ merpeople without it ever feeling like an infodump, and I still wanted more. Everything from the Gifts, to the reimagining of Atlantis, Poseidon and Triton was absolutely fascinating.
Plus, there was that ending. There are endings that leave you excited for the next book and then there are ENDINGS LIKE THAT. I’m pretty sure I could sue Banks for torture and the judge would agree with me. 😉
The bottom line? This is the best book I’ve yet to read of the new mermaid trend, hands down.
The second book of this series has a title–Of Triton–but no release date as of yet.
My Life is a Notebook 