Thursday, January 3, 2013

Best & Worst of 2012, Welcoming 2013 - Let's talk BOOKS!!



Welcome 2013... there is so much to talk about with a New Year and so many great books coming out (welcome to The Essence!!) I've been emailing back -n- forth with Vale,Valeria Andrea discussing 2012 & 2013, and I thought it would be way-cool to open the conversation up to everyone. So... get some coffee (or hot chocolate? tea?) & pull up a chair!!  Jump on in!!

So... let's chat. K?


Wait... first... I don't want to bleep out our discussion... there's a bit of language. It's an emotional chat.

Really, what? jajaja, why, I'd love to have a chitchat!! *cracks knuckles* Name the place (which, I guess, would be the internet) & the time & lets do it!! Jajaja, Hmm, yeah, lets celebrate New Year dying about what we expect from, for, 2013 & say good bye to ALL we read this year, since the world didn't end & all. 

jajajaja  Ok, starting NOW... posting Thursday!  :-D

I have been thinking a LOT about all the great books I love in 2012, my favorites. But I haven't really thought of any other categories beyond "favs" and you have all these other things....
"talking about New Year, in this time of reviewing the year that's about to end, have you decided which are the best, worst, prettiest, etc. books of the year? & what are you looking forward the most about 2013?" 
Lol. Yea!!  What about favorite books we didn't get to? 'Cause I really wanted to read Throne of Glass, but didn't get to it. I have no order, here... but I am kicking myself that I didn't get all of these:


1 - The Throne of Glass
2 - Shadow and Bone
3 - The Crown of Embers

My favorites in 2012 were....
Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)

1 - Grave Mercy. This is the only book I read twice and I about died when the author emailed me back. I'm still fainted over it.
2 - The Emperor's Conspiracy. I love thieves. I just do. Best surprise of the year.
3 - Shatter Me. Wow!!
4 - Every Other Day. Jennifer Lynn Barnes jumped up to Must-Read-All-Her-Books!!
5 - Insurgent. I still haven't read the final chapter. I just don't want it to end.
6 - Degrees of Wrong. Yea. *nods enthusiastically*

I'm forgetting some, aren't I?  This is my problem with lists. I can't remember everything all at once.

Yes! You're so forgetting Vampire Academy... in my opinion. (What? I read them like 2 years ago, so are in my list of All Time favs).

Oooh yeaaaaaa.... weird. BLOODLINES was totally awesome!!! I haven't posted all my reviews of the Vampire Academy series, yet... [How will I know how many books I read on Goodreads?! I was trying to keep track for once!!!]

The Lost GirlOkay; FAVORITE Book of 2012. The ONE that ABSOLUTELY takes the prize is: 
It is incredibly & totally beautiful. It broke me & remade me many times. MANY times, along the book. And it's a total shame that its a stand alone, since I loved Eva & EVERYONE else so, so much. The characters in this book are so freaking real... *breath* Sorry, but, hey, it was the 2012 Favorite, after all. It deserves all the ramble. 

Er... favorites? (No particular order, okay?)

1. The Immortal RulesFirst thing I read by Julie Kawaga,  loved it. went straight for all other book she's ever written, I regret nothing. 
2. Days of Blood & Starlight. Oh, please, give me a sec... * sniffs* Depressing, but beautiful. & hopeful, yes, that. 
3. Throne of Glass. A chick that kills (& happens to be the best on it?) What else would you, mortals, ask for? 
4. Cinder. I can't believe I had doubts moon-sized about this one. Love, love, love. Is February already?
5. The Golden Lily. Daaamn, I read it in 2 days. Enough said.

How 'bout books ON our shelves that we didn't get to?!

1. Divergent. Whoops, yeah, I know. Don't hurt me please!! I've had it since January... whoops. 
2. The Name of the Wind. Er...  I wonder, will I read it this year? I want to, trust me. 
3. Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. I had been waiting to get this one, got it, & I think I freaked out too badly to read it. Damn it. 

I bought Daughter of Smoke and Bone for my birthday last year and it's STILL sitting on my shelf UNREAD. What the heck?! Next to it are Under the Never Sky & Hallowed. *shakes head* That's bad & you should feel bad. 

What?!  You're going to give me a bad time about that with Divergent & The Name of the Wind still waiting to be read?!  Shall we get out our eReaders?! I've seen Sweet Evil on a few end-of-the-year-awesome-lists. Why didn't I get to that one?! Why isn't there more time to read?!?!

I tell you, whoops. 

What was your worst?  Do you dare share your worst?!?!

Ugh, the worst category rests on a book I read a couple of years ago (ejem, about angels & a twisted sense of God & religion? Awful book. If you know which I'm talking about, take this space to bang your head against the table (...)) so my bar as a little high as bad books go & I try to about them if I feel like I may not... like it. So, not a bad book as much as disappointment. 

*ouch!* Lol. 

Da prize goes to... 

1. Defiance. Really, not for a sec I thought this would turn out as... it did. Very frustrating, the plot & the MC. In a normal circumstance, this prize would be for Tiger's Destiny, but since part of me expected Kelsey to go full Drama Queen, Defiance's disappointment is huger. 

Hm... I guess... I didn't finish Starters. It just bugged me. And Exogene was tooooo gross and unlogical. But I didn't finish 'em, so I don't think they count as "worst". 

What about book or series you can't believe you waited THIS long to read?

The Iron Fey Boxed Set: The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, The Iron Knight1. The Iron Fey. Whooooah! Why I didn't read them before? Because I'm THAT damn stubborn, that's why. But now that I've read them, well, I can die peacefully (the world didn't end, so I can keep reading whatever Kagawa writes. Hell, yes.) 

Lol. Yea, I'm glad we're still alive to READ!!

I'm so glad I read The Iron Fey series this year. I'm addicted to Kagawa's writing, now.  I want to read Armentrout's books - all of 'em. Yesterday. And Richelle Mead's, too. I can't believe I didn't read the Vampire Academy series before now. Of all her books so far, though, I absolutely LOVED Bloodlines. Just talking about it makes me want to drop everything and read The Golden Lily NOW!!
Vampire Academy Collection (Vampire Academy, #1-3)
Well, what can I say, I'm rather obsessed with her books.  

But you know... I have to read Dark Triumph for the first book in 2013. :-D  What is going to be your first book of the New Year?!

Hmm, IDK. I'm deciding between Beautiful Redemption & Reached, but I just realized both are the final book in a series. Isn't that... contradictory? being New year & all? 

Lol. YES!!  Wasn't there another category we were talking about?

Ooooh, I remembered!!! Well, duh, books you are tapping your fingernails over the clock, for? 

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)Me? Okay, I feel like February is already around the corner, so maybe I shouldn't mention Scarlet, The Indigo Spell or Unravel Me. So, I am literally DYING for: Clockwork Princess!! O.O  I'm THIS sure it will break my heart & that I may even cry at some point, & I expect it to do so. Anything less would make me feel betrayed, specially after all those hints on City of Lost Souls about Tessa & Will's fate. (WILL is the deal, yes? Even it they end up not being together.) 

So... March? It seems too far away. 

You? 

Bah... that's another series I seriously NEED TO READ.

What am I anxious to read next? Hm..........


NobodyI agree with you on ScarletThe Indigo Spell & Unravel Me, definitely. Also... Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I'm hoping is psychologically thrilling. Dark Triumph by Robin Lafevers, of course. I'm biting my nails to dive into it. Robin McKinley has a book, Shadows, coming out this year, but I don't know when. Honestly? There's so many books I want to read, I'm a happy dragon with my hoard. If I didn't get any new ones, I'd be happy all of 2013 with what I have. But... I can never have enough.

How many books do you want to read in 2013?

To be continued......