Book Haul Excitement!

Thanks to some generous family members and friends I was able to pick these two beauties up with post-holiday gift cards! I can't even tell you how absolutely gorgeous these two books are. Left is INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows and right is DEFIANCE by C.J. Redwine. I want to (and will) display these in my home like art!

Book Review/LOVE FEST! Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

Coffee, bed, and DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT. The essentials.

DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
517 pages, urban fantasy, YA, angels, awesomeness, etc.
4.5/5 stars

Description: 
"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?"

To be honest it took me FOREVER to finally get to this book. I picked it up the day it pubbed in November but left it for weeks after reading about the first twenty pages. I was deeply saddened for quite sometime because I had LOVED (!) DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE but this one just wasn't ~le same~. Haven't I learned from now that just because a sophomore installation in a series is not ~le same~ doesn't it mean it's not ~le great~?

I fell in love with Prague, the setting of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. I read the majority of #1 on a chilly training, wanting to join Karou and co. in snowy Prague. I wanted to grab a hot chocolate and live in Karou's flat. Essentially, I missed the world Laini Taylor had created in the first book.

I've read a lot of reviews that have said this was not a book about love, that this was a book about war. That is ridiculous. This is a book about love and war that focuses on war as the medium. Although I felt homesick, DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT is gripping, devastating, but hopeful at the same time. Taylor creates yet another world I will gladly step into while remembering, "we'll always have Paris, Prague.."

2013 Book Challenges

As 2012 comes to an end, it is natural to look back. Right now, I'd like to move forward to 2013! I've never counted the number of books I've read in a year, but this year I would like to not only count how many put also push myself to read 150 books in 2013! I wouldn't be surprised if I have done this before, but I am looking forward to logging all of my books and keeping up to date on what I would like to recommend to fellow readers.

With tons of great "To-Look-Forward-To" lists circulating around the web right now, 150 won't be nearly enough to capture all the books I want to read this year. Particularly with quite a few series I love  publishing in early 2013. Here are some I'm especially looking forward to in the next couple months:

1. REQUIEM by Lauren Oliver
Pub Date: March 5, 2013 from HarperTeen
ljsdflkjdsfklajsdflksjdljf mind party. That is how I can describe my excitement for REQUIEM! The third in the DELIRIUM series is tooooo far away (March). I was lucky enough to have just started this series on Christmas Eve so luckily I'm not waiting as long as others. Lauren Oliver adds to the dysotopic YA scene in a way that leaves you wanting more more. Read. These. Books.

2. SCARLET by Marissa Meyer
Pub Date: February 5, 2013 from Feiwel and Friends
A cyborg Cinderella? Marissa Meyer had me hooked with the debut CINDER (#1 Lunar Chronicles). The plot moved quickly and a major cliffhanger left me counting the minutes till February 5th! Normally cliffhangers just leave me annoyed, but for some reason it worked for me this time. Maybe because I loved the world Meyer created SO MUCH that I was willing to overlook it.

3. THE ELITE by Kiera Cass
Pub Date: April 23, 2013 from HarperTeen
Okay, two confessions: April is a bit faraway and to be honest I haven't even gotten to THE SELECTION (the first in this series) yet! It's been creeping up my to-be-read pile and I'm thinking I might just wait until April so I can read THE ELITE as soon as I finish the first one. This is another one of those times cover OBSESSION creeps in. Guys, I DREAMT about this cover. Beautiful jacket image, for sure. Also have heard great things about this one and it totally satisfies my love of big poofy dresses (as long as they're not on me).

Happy reading and all the best!

Marisa

Welcome All!

Hello Dear Internet! Thank you for stopping at my tiny corner that is LIVE FROM MY BOOKSHELF!

I have big plans for this little space. Since I first learned how to read I have always wanted to talk about books. Though many of my friends do not share my particular passion for reading and writing, I have found the Internet to be full of wonderful people who share my passion for books.

Three Ideal Functions of This Blog:

1. Give book lovers a space to talk about what they're reading
2. To spread the word about GREAT books
3. To give/get advice on breaking into the mystical world of publishing

Me: perpetual intern, couch surfer, fried food slinger, recent-college-grad
You: lover of books

A match made in Heaven!