2015 End of Year Book Survey

This survey is created by The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Number Of Books You Read: 123 (as of 12/27/15 – this will probably go up a book or two by year end)
Number of Re-Reads: 24 (not counted in the above answer)
Genre You Read The Most From: YA

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

I don’t think I can pick one book, but I have narrowed it down to my three favorite (which were also the ones I got for Christmas):

1. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
2. Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (This book will be referenced a lot from here on out, BTW)

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway, Pretending to be Erica by Michelle Painchaud, and The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh – in a Good way!

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West. I’ve had a few different people tell me they read it because I kept talking about it.

 5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Started – Six of Crows (Six of Crows) by Leigh Bardugo

Sequel – First Frost (Waverly Family) by Sarah Addison Allen

Ender – Winter (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Allison Leotta – The Anna Curtis series

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – I don’t read a lot of books that have LGBT romance.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Six of Crows!

 9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Big Little Lies

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

The book only got 2 stars from me, but I adore the cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows. He’s everything.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

This year I read for pure enjoyment purposes. I can’t say I read anything that was life-changing.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

Missing You by Harlan Coben. Not necessarily that book, but the author. I have never read him before and I know I’ll definitely be reading more of him.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

I don’t keep track of quotes. It’s not my thing.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Shortest – Ten Rules for a Call Girl by Allison Leotta

Longest – Winter by Marissa Meyer

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

You know, there were several books that had some small twists or surprises, but there is not anything that stands out to me as being really shocking.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Cinder & Kai from Winter

Kaz & Inej from Six of Crows

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The Six of Crows gang as a whole, Cinder & Thorne

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Six of Crows – previously read The Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – because ALL THE HYPE

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

Kaz Brekker. Obviously.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Wrath and the Dawn

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

While it definitely wasn’t the sob fest that was Me Before You, After You by Jojo Moyes had me a little teary at the beginning.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London was pretty cute.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

I didn’t read a lot of heavy hitting reads this year. I’m not actually upset by this.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

You by Caroline Kepnes. This book was just Messed Up.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle because it was RIDICULOUS!

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

I’m not entirely sure if it was this year or last year, but I’m pretty sure it was this year that I discovered Brandie is a Book Junkie. We don’t share the same tastes in everything, but we both love Suspense novels and if she gives a Suspense a favorable rating, it’s automatically going on my TBR. She is also the reason I read my first Harlan Coben book this year. And we also figured out that we live in the same county, which is pretty cool!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

If My Life were Like Chick Lit…The Wedding Date and All the Ways in which I am not a Proper Book Nerd/Blogger.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I went to a book signing/talk by Linda Castillo (of the Kate Burkholder series).

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?

I had my first publisher provided giveaway – for a copy of Black-Eyed Susans.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

I’ve had several book slumps throughout the year and that bled over into not having anything to post on the blog. I’ve also had lots of Low-Blog-Self-Esteem moments where I kind of hate everything about my blog/blogging.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

My review of The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne has the most views of the year. I don’t have any idea how to search by comments or likes.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I don’t really know. I wish every post got more likes/comments/views. But what can you do?

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Many new blogs

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

For the Good Reads Reading Challenge I wanted to read 115 books and I surpassed it.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. I bought it when it was on sale, but haven’t read it yet. It’s first up after I get some library books and ARCs out of the way.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?

The Raven King!!!! How many times has this been pushed back?!?

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

I can’t think of anything at the moment. I’m not super attuned to those yet, I guess.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?

The Raven King, obviously, and Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

Request less ARCs unless it’s a book that I know I REALLY want to read. I hate DNF-ing ARCs, but I also hate forcing myself to finish books I don’t like and then try to write coherent reviews about them.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

So far I’ve only read one and a half 2016 books and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them to everyone.

 

‘Tis the Season Book Tag

With only one more day until Christmas I figured I better hurry up and do this ‘Tis the Season Book Tag! Thanks to Eve Messenger’s OtherWORDly Endeavors for tagging me!

 1. Do you have a favorite winter read?

I don’t really read based on the seasons.

2. Find a book with blue on the cover!

I don’t really know why a blue cover is on a Christmas related list? Why not red or green? But anyways, this is one of my favorite books this year.

3. Find a book you’d use as the star on a Christmas tree!

I’m totally stealing Eve’s answer and going for an angel on top of the tree instead of a star and I think this cover is beautiful (wish I was more impressed with the actual story, though…)

4. Pick one fictional place that would be perfect for a winter vacation!

Luna, because it doesn’t snow on the moon. Although, so far (luckily for us), I’m really enjoying this weather we’re having right now. Yesterday I wore short sleeves and no coat – two days before Christmas in Ohio!

5. Pick one fictional character you’d take with you on your winter vacation!

Kaz Brekker. Because he’s my favorite new character of the year and I would take him anywhere.

6. Name one book on your wish list this year!

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

7. Favorite holiday drink, treat, & movie?

Drink – Cinnamon Dulce coffee (my mom just discovered these Starbucks K-cups and my whole family is obsessed with it now)

Treat – Buckeyes (I’m from Ohio! And you can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!)

Movie – All I Want for Christmas (from 1991 with Ethan Embry and Thora Birch – and I just realized I haven’t watched it at all this year!)

Feel free to tag yourself if you’d like to do this! Thanks again, Eve, for tagging me!

12 Days of Christmas Book Tag 2015

 

 

The 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag was created last year by Ashley @ Falling Down The Book Hole  and it’s quite possible I did this last year (but I don’t feel like looking it up). But this year I was tagged by Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse. Thanks Deanna! So just in case I did this before, I’ll try to make these answers come from books I only read this year.

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On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree.

The partridge stood alone in the pear tree. What is your favorite stand alone?

There are several excellent stand alones that I read this year, but I think I’ll go with Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

 

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On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: two turtle doves.

Love is in the air! Who is your one true pairing?

I really love Cinder and Kai. I loved every single thing about their relationship in Winter.

 

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On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: Three French Hens.

In the spirit of threes, what is the best trilogy you have read?

There is only one trilogy that I completed this year and that was the Paper Gods trilogy by Amanda Sun.

 

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On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: four calling birds.

Since series usually consist of four or more books, what is your favourite series?

I’m going to have to go with The Lunar Chronicles. Again, Winter was a great end to the series!

 

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On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: five golden rings.

One ring to rule them all! Who is your Favorite Villain/Antagonist?

The Dane Twins from A Darker Shade of Magic. They were deliciously creepy and crazy.

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On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying.

Creation is a beautiful thing. What is your favourite world/world-building?

I’m going to go with The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

 

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On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: seven swans a swimming.

Who needs seven swans when all it takes is one good animal sidekick? Who’s your favourite animal sidekick?

I don’t remember it’s name, but there was one particular dragon in The Great Zoo of China that was pretty awesome.

 

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On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: eight maids a milking.

Milk is so 18th century. Which book or series takes beverages/food to a whole new level? 

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen. A magical apple tree.

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On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: nine ladies dancing.

Dancing is just one skill of a Lady! Who is your favourite kickass female lead?

Inej from Six of Crows.

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On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: ten lords a leaping.

How about your favourite leading lad?

Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows. Of course.

 

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On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me: eleven pipes piping. 

What is your favourite book or bookish thing with musical influence? (It can be about music, reference music a lot etc.)

Missing You by Harlan Coben. The title is a reference to a song which is also mentioned in the book.

 

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On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 12 drummers drumming. 

Drum roll please…what is your favourite read of this year?

        

I’ve narrowed it down to three. Big Little Lies by Liane Morirarty, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin.

Feel free to tag yourself if you’d like to participate!

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read In 2015

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is: Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015.

1. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I loved pretty much everything about this book. The relationships, the humor, the drama.

2. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo. I looooved this book! The characters are amazing. Kaz Brekker FOREVER.

3. Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin. Probably the best suspense I’ve read all year – or ever, really. Read this book!

4. The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. This was probably my biggest surprise of the year. I really didn’t expect much from it and ended up really loving it!

5. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West. West continues to be my favorite YA Contemporary author. Her books are always so adorable and this was no exception.

6. A Good Killing (Anna Curtis #4) by Allison Leotta. Though this is the 4th book in the series, it introduced me to the wonderful writing of Allison Leotta and this series has quickly become one of my all time favorites.

7. First & Then by Emma Mills. Another book that surprised me by how much I enjoyed it. It was one of those books that I just wanted to keep reading forever.

8. I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1) by Barry Lyga. Jasper Dent is such an interesting, compelling character and he really made this book.

9. Oblivion (Lux 1.5) by Jennifer Armentrout. I love the Lux series and I love Daemon Black and this is a wonderful addition to the series that I never expected, but always wanted.

10. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer. This was a fantastic end to the series and I just loved it so much!

Review: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis from Good Reads:

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

What a wonderful end to this wonderful series! Winter was just about everything I was hoping it would be and I really couldn’t be happier about it.

As with almost every series finale I try to review, I find it overwhelming to organize my thoughts into a cohesive review. So I will go with my trusty list of random observations and thoughts.

-What started as an ok book for me in Cinder just continued to get better and better in each installment and it became one of my all time favorite YA series. Meyer has developed a rich cast of characters that I love and ship and root for. While I’m sad to see them go, I’m so happy to see them reach their Happily Ever Afters.

-This book is long. In many books I feel the action and the conclusion often feel rushed towards the end, but that is not the case in Winter. Meyer definitely takes her time to set everything up. A revolution is not a quick or easy thing to start and we see every step, every hiccup along the way. There were a few times when I thought, “can we just get on with it, already?”, but really I can’t complain about spending more time with these characters.

–The Friendships. I love the friendships in this book so much. Cinder and Iko as BFFs just makes me smile. The sarcastic banter between Cinder and Thorne has made me laugh since the very beginning and I’m so happy that their relationship has remained just a solid friendship instead of turning into a possible romantic triangle – which is what I originally feared when Thorne’s character was first introduced. Scarlet and Winter also became a fun friendship to watch evolve in this book.

–The Romances. Of course I have to mention all the romantic pairings in this series. Cinder and Kai’s relationship has been developing since the first book and I loved every single thing about it in this book. From their first scene together to their last, I love them! Scarlet and Wolf have faced many, many obstacles in their short relationship, but they are solid and wonderful and adorable and I love them. Cress and Thorne! We did not get nearly enough Cress and Thorne chapters for my liking, but when we got them, we really got them. I’m incredibly happy with their big romantic moments in this book. And, last but not least, Winter and Jacin. I didn’t really expect to love them as much as I do, but I should have known better. Their relationship also had their obstacles, but they never gave up and I ship it. And I also fee like I must mention that I have come to love Jacin just as much as the other guys in this series. He’s sarcastic and smart and protective and I just really fell for him.

–The Perspectives. There are a lot of perspective for Meyer to juggle here and like each book before it, she handles it so well. Though I often got upset when a shift in perspective changed, it did not take me long at all to get into the new perspective. It really kept the story going and with our favorite characters often separated in different groups throughout the book it was necessary to keep up with everybody and see all the parts of the revolution coming together. My only complaint is that I don’t think we got a single chapter from Thorne’s perspective. He was around, of course, and had some big moments, but I wish we would’ve gotten some of his perspective since we got everyone else’s.

–The Revolution. We’ve been gearing towards this moment since the first book and it was so satisfying to watch it play out. It was not without fatalities and sacrifices and heartbreak. Not every single thing went according to plan. But I loved seeing all the characters – old and new – come together. I loved reading the strategy and the twists and surprises. And, of course, I loved seeing it reach it’s conclusion.

Overall, I just thought this was a fantastic ending to The Lunar Chronicles series. Though it was a little long and I wish we would’ve gotten more Thorne, pretty much everything else about it is everything I wanted. I loved the development of the characters and the relationships and the political revolution. Though I kind of wish there was an Epilogue set several years down the road just so we could see all the changes that were talked about come to fruition, I did really love the ending. I loved the call backs to things that happened in previous books. I just really loved spending time with these characters again and I know this is a series that I will be re-reading again and again.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall TBR

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the Broke and the Bookish, is: Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR.

1. Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2) by William Ritter. Published September 22.

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Published September 29.

3. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. Published September 29.

4. Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti. Published September 29.

5. A Madness so Discreet by Mindy McGinnis. Published October 6.

6. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Published October 6.

7. These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly. Published October 27.

8. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer. Published November 10.

9. Oblivion (Lux 1.5) by Jennifer Armentrout. Published December 1.

10. Backstage (Boy Band #2) by Jacqueline E. Smith. Published December 8.

What books are you looking forward to this fall? Are you looking forward to any of the above?

The 1989 Book Tag

I’ve seen this on a few blogs, including Brandie is a Book Junkie, and since I am all about the tags lately, I decided to join the fun.

Welcome to New York
You can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls.

1. A book with LGBT themes.

It’s not one of those specialized “diverse” books, but The Lynburn Legacy series has a romance side plot involving gay and bisexual characters.

 

Blank Space
You can tell me when it’s over, if the high was worth the pain.

2. A book that hit you right in the feels, but was totally worth it.

First off, I totally thought the line was “…if I was worth the pain.” I’m going to go with Mockingjay because I refer to it as the book to read “if you never want to be happy again”, but I still love the series so, so much!

I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

3. A book that you hated but you loved the cover.

I loooove the cover for Red Queen, but the story that goes with it was pretty Blah.

 

I’ve got a blank space baby and I’ll write your name.

4. Your latest book boyfriend/girlfriend.

Haydn from The Fill-In Boyfriend

 

Style
We never go out of style.

5. A timeless classic you love.

Pride & Prejudice – obviously.

 

Out of the Woods
The rest of the world is black and white, but we were screaming color.

6. A book that had vivid world building.

A Darker Shade of Magic

 

The monsters turned out to be just trees.

7. A book where things weren’t exactly how they seemed.

Unbecoming. This was one of my early favorites of the year. I think I need a re-read.

 

All You Had To Do Was Stay
You were all I wanted… but not like this.

8. A book you were eagerly anticipating, but ended up being disappointed by.

 

The Wrong Side of Right. I was so looking forward to this and really, really wanted to like it. It was just ok.

Shake It Off
The haters gonna hate…

9. A book/series that everyone seems to love but you can’t help but hate.

Throne of Glass. I Just. Don’t. Get. It.

 

10. A book/series you love but everyone else seems to hate.

I honestly can’t think of one. I tend to be the one to hate series that other people love (see above), but I don’t think there’s a lot of hate out there for any series that I really enjoy. I guess I just have wonderful taste 😛

 

I Wish You Would
I wish you knew I’ll never forget you as long as I live.

11. A book/series you know you will always love.

 

The Raven Cycle. I love these characters more than I like most people I know in real life.

 

I wish you were right here, right now.

12. An upcoming release you wish you could have right now!

Winter – the Lunar Chronicles finale!

 

Bad Blood
Now we’ve got bad blood, you know it used to be mad love.

13. A character you once loved but grew to hate.

Adam Kent from the Shatter Me series. I adored him in the first book and slowly grew to really despise him through the rest of the series.

 

14. An author you haven’t forgiven for the things they did to your favorite characters/books.

I think we all know who the answer to this is for me by now – Veronica Roth for Allegiant – the whole book, not just what she did to one of the main characters

Wildest Dreams
I can see the end as it begins.

15. A book that was far too predictable.

The Magician’s Lie.

 

Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now.

16. A book/series that you wish could have gone on forever.

I don’t know about forever, but the ending to the Elemental series was not good enough for me and I need more!

 

How You Get The Girl
That’s how it works, that’s how you get the girl.

17. One of your favorite books where they ‘got the girl’.

Someday Maybe

 

This Love
In darkest screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed on this.

18. A book that completely shocked you.

Dangerous Girls

 

I Know Places
Loves a fragile little flame it could burn out.

19. A book you thought you loved but quickly came to hate.

I can’t think of anything for this one either. I usually hate books pretty early into them if I’m going to hate them. I guess I could say Allegiant again since I had decided to love it before I even started it, but then, it turned out to be garbage.

 

Something happens when everybody finds out. See the vultures circling dark clouds.

20. A book you didn’t want to be seen reading.

The Pretty Little Liars series was a guilty pleasure (as is the tv show) – though I stopped reading them somewhere in the middle of the series.

 

Clean
The drought was the very worst, when the flowers that we’d grown together died off first.

21. Does the wait between books made you forget everything that happened?

Often times, yes. Unless it was a book I completely LOVED, but even then I might need a bit of a refresher.

 

By morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean.

22. A book/series you wiped from your memory.

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I like to pretend that Allegiant doesn’t exist.

FEEL FREE TO TAG YOURSELF IF YOU’D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE. LEAVE A LINK IN THE COMMENTS SO I CAN SEE YOUR ANSWERS!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is: Top Ten Seven Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015.

1. After the Storm (Kate Burkholder #7) by Linda Castillo Release Date: 7/14/15

2. Pretending to be Erica by Michelle Painchaud. Release Date: 7/21/15

3. If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins. Release Date: 6/30/15

4. Sweet Temptation (Sweet Evil #4) by Wendy Higgins. Release Date: 9/8/15

5. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer. Release Date: 11/10/15

No Cover Yet

 

6. Oblivion (Lux 1.5) by Jennifer Armentrout. Release Date: 12/2015

No Cover yet

 

7. Anything for You (Blue Heron #5) by Kristan Higgins. Release Date: 12/29/15

What books are you looking forward to releasing this year? Are you looking forward to any of these?

Cover Reveal: Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

You guys it’s here! And it’s Glorious!

USA Today revealed the cover of the hotly anticipated ending to the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I love all the covers to these books and this one does not disappoint! You can also read an excerpt here!

Do you love the cover? Are you as excited for this book as I am? November 10th is soooo far away!