See Michelle Read in 2010

Happy New Years everybody!!

Unbelievable as it may seem, I'm currently sitting here in my California desert home watching the SNOW fall and feeling very ready to curl up and remember some of my favorite reads from 2010. This past year saw some incredible books come my way - some old, some new and many leaving me in a puddle of squealing girlie-fandom. And so now, here are my Best Of's for 2010...

Best Debut ~ Split by Swati Avasthi
One of the best male POV teen books I've ever read, Split is a gripping yet heartbreaking story. Jace's voice stayed with me for days afterward and I just want to shove this book into every single persons hand.

Best Retelling ~ Jane by April Lindner
I think I've made my undying love for this book perfectly clear but I'll say it again: this modern retelling of Jane Eyre is pitch perfect. Jane falling in love with rockstar Nico Rathburn is simply stunning. Haunting prose, soul mates, and chemistry practically oozing off the page. Read it.

Best Urban Fantasy ~ Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bleeds packs some serious sizzle friends. This latest installment basically cemented Kate's status as my top UF heroine. Kate is tough yet freaking hilarious and her relationship with Curran... oh boy.

Best YA Fantasy ~ The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
Mae truly is something else. Pink hair and no magic except for her razor sharp wits. And those Ryves' brothers? Um yes. Their dynamic, volatile relationship is never, ever boring and the twists just keep on coming.

Best Fantasy ~ The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Thank heavens that Ana over at The Book Smugglers gushed incessantly over this one. Day one of Kvothe's tale had me riveted. I just know The Wise Man's Fear (or day two) will be just as astounding.

Best Throwback ~ The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
I had never yet experienced the awesomeness that is Sally Lockhart until this year but I'm so glad I finally did. This entire series is fantastic, but Sally's first adventure is truly heart-pounding unforgettable.

Best Dystopian YA ~ The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Yeah, yeah. I know this one came out in 2009 so I'm a cheating a bit here folks but I did call it back in January and nothing has even come close to changing my mind. Brilliant and compelling - the complete unravellling of Todd's entire world blew my mind. And Manchee broke my heart.

Best New Author Discovery ~ Jacyln Moriarty
And to think my latest crush all started with a little book called The Ghosts of Ashbury High. I had no idea what awesomeness I'd be jumping into when I first picked this one up but I couldn't help searching out Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie, and The Year of Secret Assignments right away. Jaclyn Moriarty is flawless in her depictions of friendships and the trials of being a teen. Also, she's side-splitting funny.


So if anyone's keeping track that's about 163 books read this year - not as many as 2009, but still respectable nonetheless. All in all, 2009 was a banner year for sure. What were some of your favorites from 2010?

My inbox overfloweth

I have this friend who really likes fantasy books - especially the Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series - I'm thinking she has good taste. But she'd never heard of the Kate Daniels books and so I have been bugging her for some time to track them down cause I know she'll just love them. I even supplied her with my copy of Magic Bleeds since it hadn't become available on her Kindle yet.

I hadn't heard anything from her for almost a week until yesterday when I got the following texts on my phone:

MARY: Finished the Kate books! I luv Kate and Curran!
ME: yay!
MARY: Curran all growly and protective is  my favorite =)
ME: i know! isn't he just yummy?!
MARY: uh huh
ME: have u read MAGIC BLEEDS yet? it is AMAZING!!! it turned me to goo
MARY: Finished this morning! I luv-luv it! Your furriness! =o) i luv when she says that. i just luv those two crazy luv birds.
ME: Of course u luved it! i'm so happy ;)
MARY: their 'intimate' moments suits their relationship. I'm glad she [Ilona Andrews] wrote it that way. cuz their relationship is so...amazingly crazy.
ME: so happy.


My work here is done.

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

If you've spent much time around this here bloggy, then there's a good chance you've heard about how crazy I am for Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series. The constant back-and-forth between Kate and Curran never fails to entertain me and Andrew's phenomenal world-building of a magic-ravaged Atlanta (my hometown!) always keeps me intrigued. After reading what I shall hereafter refer to as The Goodness - Magic Strikes - I've been on tender-hooks waiting for the sequel ever since.
 
Magic Bleeds opens with what has to be the best prologue of all time - it's that good. There is positively no contest here folks. In the interest of not becoming all spoiler-y, I won't go into details, but just know that after the dust settles, we are left with one mad Kate. Mad with a capital M. And it would be safe to assume that most of that barely controlled animosity is directed firmly at His Fuzziness, The Beast Lord, Curran. Fortunately for us, Kate isn't like the rest of world when she's furious. She's a teeny bit more dangerous since she never goes anywhere without her enchanted sword, Slayer, strapped to her back. That would add a little bit of swagger to any girl's stride.

So Kate's already seeing red when the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid calls upon her to investigate a bar fight turned deadly. Upon her arrival, Kate finds not only an entire bar of spent brawlers who have no idea why they began fighting in the first place, but a man staked to a telephone pole, crawling with what appears to be a fast-multiplying, deadly disease. Kate contains the disease (barely) but then finds herself up against all sorts of obstacles upon discovering that the victim was a shapeshifter and therefore part of Curran's territory. Not someone she really wants to deal with at the moment. But as the plague-spreading culprit strikes again and again, Kate realizes she's gonna have to call in every favor and rely upon every weapon in her arsenal before this newest enemy can wreck complete destruction on the city of Atlanta. And that means working together with the Order, the Guild, the People, and most importantly the Pack to control this centuries-old evil from destroying everything Kate holds close.

I can feel myself starting to grin like a idiot right now because I've just got to say it: This. Book. Is. Awesome. And then some. Like if Awesome and Mind-Blowing went and had a love child it would be called Magic Bleeds. It's been obvious since day one that husband and wife writer duo Ilona Andrews has had a plan in store for Kate (and us), but Magic Bleeds just went and and blew all my expectations right out of the park. Weighing in as one of my top picks of 2009, Magic Strikes set the bar pretty dang high as far as impressive books go: we finally got to know Kate's Big Secret and saw some very nice relationship development between her and Curran (roar). I wasn't sure it would be possible but it's like Magic Bleeds took those eye-popping elements and then ramped up the intensity, the action, and the sizzle (whoa baby) one-hundred fold. Magic Bleeds simply delivers.

And dang it, but every time I'm enjoying watching Kate kick some serious butt, I end up forgetting just how frightfully brilliant she is. The girl is a total sword-swinging killing machine; too often taken for a simple mercenary with nothing much going on upstairs. Not so. Kate is infinitely more capable - and deadly. Sometimes it's hard to remember that not only has Kate been training as a warrior since age two (or earlier), she's also been getting a comprehensive education in mythology, history, and magic at the same time. It's not until she rattles off the minutiae of some obscure, ancient belief system at the drop of a hat to stunned audiences that I remind myself to pick my jaw up off the floor and just turn the page. She's just that good and I cannot even begin to explain how skillfully her story has been crafted. It's okay, we all want to be Kate. Go ahead and admit it. You'll feel much better after you do.

series reading order:
~ Magic Bites
~ Magic Burns - my review
~ Magic Strikes - my review
~ Magic Mourns (novella in Must Love Hellhounds anthology) - my review
~ Magic Bleeds

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
Book Harbinger review
Lurv a la Mode review
Smexy Books review
That's Queen Bitch to You review

book source: purchased

The Fabulous, Marvelous, Wonderful Day of Books

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day book-wise. I got no less than TWO special bookish deliveries.

Package #1:  

The Road Home & Welcome to Vietnam by Ellen Emerson White

Another, wholly unexpected, Mother's Day gift from the Hubby - the shipping just took forever. After seeing how well his Anniversary Present was recieved, he's decided he can't go wrong with Ellen Emerson White. I agree.

Package #2 (one of my most anticipated reads of the 2010):

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

 !!!!

Someone needs to come and scrape me off the floor, because I am basically a puddle of goo at the moment. *dies*