Nine Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early

Hello, everyone! I haven't participated in Top Ten Tuesday for ages, but I thought it would be fun to start again. This week's theme is a great one: books I'd do almost anything to get early. This is very timely, since I'm in the process of requesting my ARCs for the next review period. It's hard to narrow the list down, so I decided to do just the ones from authors or series I'm already a fan of and sort them by release date (because I couldn't possibly prioritize them over each other!). I haven't read them so I can't make any recommendations yet, but I do highly suggest putting these books on your radar in the upcoming months:

1. The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George (May 1, 2018)

Orphaned Anthea Cross-Thornley has been shuttled between family members her whole life. When she receives a letter from a long-lost uncle, she dares to dream that she will finally find a home. Upon her arrival she is shocked to learn that her uncle secretly breeds horses--animals that have been forbidden in their kingdom for centuries. More alarming is Anthea's strange ability to sense the horses' thoughts and feelings, an ancient gift called The Way. Confused and terrified, Anthea is desperate to leave, but when dangers arise that put her family and her kingdom at risk, she has no choice but to embrace The Way and the exciting future adventures it will bring her.

2. Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead (May 1, 2018)

It’s been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy’s grandmother in Australia. Now that she’s back, Livy has the feeling she’s forgotten something really, really important about Gran’s house.

It turns out she’s right.

Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed in a chicken suit, didn’t forget Livy, or her promise. He’s been waiting five years for her to come back, hiding in a closet like she told him to. He can’t remember who—or what—he is, where he came from, or if he even has a family. But five years ago Livy promised she would help him find his way back home. Now it’s time to keep that promise.

Clue by clue, Livy and Bob will unravel the mystery of where Bob comes from, and discover the kind of magic that lasts forever.

3. Al Capone at Alcatraz #4: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko (May 8, 2018)

Return to Al Capone’s Alcatraz with Newbery Honor-winning author Gennifer Choldenko in this charming addition to the beloved series about the son of a prison guard.

Moose Flanagan lives on a famous island in California: Alcatraz, home to some of the most dangerous prisoners in the United States in the 1930s. It’s the summer before he starts high school, and Moose is going to play a lot of baseball and win a spot on the high school team. But he still needs to watch his special older sister, Natalie–and then the warden asks Moose to look after his two-faced, danger-loving daughter, Piper.

In the cell house there are rumors that the cons will a strike, and that Moose’s father might step up to a new job. Moose is worried: What will this mean for their family, especially for Natalie, who’s had some scary run-ins with prisoners? Then the unthinkable happens: Natalie winds up someplace she should never, ever go. And Moose has to rescue her.

4. Twice Upon a Time #4: Robin Hood, the One Who Looked Good in Green by Wendy Mass (May 29, 2018)

There's two sides to every story . . . this time it's Robin Hood and Maid Marian like you've never seen them before.







5. The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings by Sarah Prineas (June 26, 2018)

From Sarah Prineas, author of the acclaimed Magic Thief series, comes a stunning new tween fantasy where books literally come to life!

The powerful Lost Books at the palace library are infecting the rest with an evil magic, and two unlikely friends must figure out who, or what, is controlling the books and their power. If they can’t, the entire kingdom could be at risk.

Sarah Prineas returns to her classic middle grade roots with this imaginative, fast-paced adventure for book lovers everywhere.

6. Resistance by Jennifer A Nielsen (August 28, 2018)

Chaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference. Using forged papers and her fair features, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the Jewish ghettos of Poland, smuggling food, papers, and even people.

Soon Chaya joins a resistance cell that runs raids on the Nazis' supplies. But after a mission goes terribly wrong, Chaya's network shatters. She is alone and unsure of where to go, until Esther, a member of her cell, finds her and delivers a message that chills Chaya to her core, and sends her on a journey toward an even larger uprising in the works -- in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Though the Jewish resistance never had much of a chance against the Nazis, they were determined to save as many lives as possible, and to live -- or die -- with honor.

7. The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm (September 4, 2018)

Ellie's grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist . . . in the body of a fourteen-year-old boy. His feet stink, and he eats everything in the refrigerator--and Ellie is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Ellie team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be. The formula for eternal youth may be within their reach! And when Ellie's cat, Jonas Salk, gets sick, the stakes become even higher. But is the key to eternal life really the key to happiness? Sometimes even the most careful experiments yield unexpected--and wonderful--results

8. Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (October 16, 2018)

In this prequel to Ella Enchanted, which can stand on its own, young healer Evie is transformed into an ogre by the meddling fairy Lucinda. She’ll turn back only if someone proposes and she accepts!

Evie is happiest when she is healing people, diagnosing symptoms, and prescribing medications, with the help of her devoted friend (and test subject) Wormy. So when Wormy unexpectedly proposes to her, she kindly turns him down; she has far too much to do to be marrying anyone. And besides, she simply isn’t in love with him.

But a certain meddling fairy named Lucinda has been listening in, and she doesn’t approve of Evie’s rejection. Suddenly, Evie finds herself transformed from a girl into a hideous, hungry ogre. Evie now has only sixty-two days to accept another proposal—or else be stuck as an ogre forever.

9. Counting to Perfect by Suzanne LaFleur (October 23, 2018)

Julia used to be the perfect big sister: she played great games and took good care of Cassie. Now life at home revolves around Julia and her daughter, Addie. No one pays much attention to Cassie: not to her competitive swim meets, and not to what's gone wrong with her friends. 

When Julia confides in Cassie that she'll be leaving with Addie--without telling their parents--Cassie jumps in the car, too. As the days of lumberjack breakfasts and hotel pools start to add up, Cassie has to wonder: Could the sister who seems to be the source of all her problems also be the friend she's missed the most?

And that's it for me. Now it's your turn: what upcoming releases are you most excited about? 

The Last Ten Books I Got For Free

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a "freebie," and I literally am so overworked that all I could come up with was books I got for "free." Is that unoriginal or what? I've gotten a lot of great books for free lately, though, so I'm excited to show off some of my latest acquisitions. They're only roughly in order, though, because I don't really keep track of exact dates. And by "don't really" I mean "don't at all."

1. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

I got this as my free book in the Barnes & Noble summer reading program. I know the program says it's for kids through middle school, but you know what? I read the fine print, and there is nothing in there restricting prize-winners to a certain age group. So I am so totally participating in this program every summer until I die! Or until I become embarrassed by how old I am and still turning in the kids' program, whichever comes first. :P Anyway, my review of Counting by 7s will go live on Friday. It was a gorgeous book, but had some serious believability issues.

2. The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Funnily enough, my review of The Marvels went live this past Friday. This was an ARC I got from Scholastic, after I sent a semi-begging e-mail going on about how much I love Selznick's books and I needed to get my hands on this new one now because I just knew I was going to love it.

Well, I didn't. And I feel bad about that. Because the first half of the book, which told a story completely through pictures, is absolutely beautiful. The second half, told in text, is . . . less beautiful. Click here to check out my full review.

3. A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This is another Scholastic ARC that I requested. Unlike The Marvels, which I liked much less than I'd hoped, A Night Divided actually surpassed my (already very high) expectations. It's a wonderful book, one that I will most definitely be re-reading over and over again in the years to come. I posted my rave review here.

4. Project Inspired by Nicole Weider

I got Project Inspired through the BookLook Bloggers program about a month and a half ago. It wasn't what I'd thought it was when I requested it (for one thing, it had only a fraction of the page-count I expected), but it was still pretty good. I'm keeping my copy for now in case I want to use it as a reference, but I have a feeling it will vanish during my next belongings purge (i.e. when I go off to college).

5. Cheap Chic by Caterine Milinaire and Carol Troy

This is a book I got through the Blogging For Books program, which usually has slightly better options than BookLook Bloggers. I'm in the middle of it now, and it's pretty interesting: a fashion advice book from the 70s, written for girls who don't have much money. Half of the advice boils down to "don't buy much, but spend lots on what you do," so I'm not sure how helpful it would have been for the truly destitute. Then again, I'm only halfway through it so we'll see. I haven't made up my mind about it yet.

6. The Looney Experiment by Luke Reynolds

This is another BookLook Bloggers read, and it looks pretty interesting. Between my other books and the start of the school year I haven't gotten to it yet, but it's (almost) at the top of the TBR list.

7. Diary of a Jackwagon by Tim Hawkins

This is, yes, yet another BookLook Bloggers book. I only got it two weeks ago and I haven't (as of writing this post, September 2) started it yet. I'm really excited about it, though, because it's by the Christian comedian Tim Hawkins. He's one of the funniest guys alive, and I have literally been sucked into YouTube vieos of his shows for hours on end. I can't wait to start Diary of a Jackwagon!

8. All Fall Down by Ally Carter

This one is only sort of a book for free, because I bought it with a Half-Priced Books gift card from my grandparents. That still counts as free, right? I wanted to put it on thsi list because I'm so excited about it. Anyone who's read my review knows that I really loved it. So finding a hardcover in brand-new condition for only $8, at a store where I had a giftcard, was exciting enough. Imagine the thrill when I opened the cover and discovered that it was autographed! That's right, my new beauty was signed by Ms. Carter herself. Now I call that $8 of free money well spent!

9. Frosted Kisses by Heather Hepler

This was an unsolicited ARC from Scholastic, which I got a few weeks ago. It's sitting on my TBR pile - my "to be reviewed" one, that is, not "to be read." It's in that in-between stage when I've already read it but I haven't gotten my act together enough to actually write a review of it. So I haven't gathered my thoughts about Frosted Kisses yet, but in a nutshell I thought it was a cute story with maybe a little too much petty schoolgirl drama for my taste. Keep an eye out for a proper review coming out October 23.

10. The Missing #8: Redeemed by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This was a Simon and Schuster ARC, arguably one of my most exciting ARCs ever! I'd been reading and adoring the Missing series for like five years, and I was desperate to read the long-awaited conclusion. I poured that desperation into an e-mail to Simon and Schuster, and was overjoyed to find out that my entreaties had been heard - and that a copy was in the mail! Needless to say, all productivity stopped while I devoured the beautiful sucker (because seriously, the cover was gorgeous). It was one of the hardest reviews I'd ever written, though, because I had so much to say I wound up with an abscenely large review that no one would ever want to read. It's shorter now, though still longer than most of my reviews. If you're a fan of the Missing series (i.e. are ready for the spoilers that come with discussing the eighth book in a series) you can click here to check out my review.

Well, what do you think? I've gotten some pretty good books lately. I can't wait to dive into the ones still waiting on my to-be-read pile!

Ten Finished Series That I Haven't Finished

There are always series that we haven't finished.

You know how it is. Life gets in the way, a shiny new book distracts your attention away from the later book in a long series, you just didn't click with the story enough to continue it . . . there are many reasons to discontinue reading a series, most of them valid (though not all - and if you haven't finished a series you're convinced you'll love, then for shame!). This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is to list ten series that have officially finished (i.e. all of the books are out), that you haven't finished. I went through my Goodreads bookshelves looking for series I've read and haven't finished. I even discovered a few series I hadn't known about! That's the problem with not marking books as being part of a series . . .

1. The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville
I'm actually in the middle of reading this series, and I've been doing it as quickly as I can. When I'm typing this post (August 21 - yes, I'm actually writing my TTT posts ahead for once!), I've read the first three but not the fourth, The Last Hunt. I had to go to an entirely different library system to check it out, because it's out of print, so it took a while to get down there. Now I'm on vacation (in Indianapolis - yay!), and I don't have it with me because I didn't want to lug all seven hundred pages of the series conclusion through BWI airport. When I get home, though, it's the first book on my TBR list. By the time this post actually goes live, I'll have long since read it and probably written and scheduled my review, too. You can click the links to read my reviews of the first, second, and third books in the series.

2. The Inkworld series by Cornelia Funke
This is a series that a lot of people love. I realize this. I read the first book and loved it too (or at least liked it well enough that I could convince myself I loved it). I checked out the next two books in the trilogy to finish it off, but then . . . I fizzled. Halfway through the second book, I just got bored. I started skimming, and then I skipped to the last chapter of the third book to see how everything ended, and then I just quit because I didn't like the ending. So yeah, I haven't actually read all three books in the series (which is why I put it onto this list), but I'm definitely not going to try again someday. The funny thing is that I also tried Funke's Dragon Rider and got so bored I DNF'd. I hardly ever quit reading a book, so the fact that I quit twice with Funke's books means that I'm pretty much off her for life. It's too bad, but I just can't make the connection that so many people do with her books.

3. Ingo by Helen Dunmore
I read the first Ingo book a long time ago, and thought it was okay (if maybe a little cliche). I had no idea that there were later books, and I set Ingo aside as a so-so book that really needed some sequels. Turns out, there are actually four! I'm not sure if I'll check them out, but just knowing they exist makes me feel much fonder towards poor little Ingo.

4. The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale
I read an enjoyed The Goose Girl, which was a great book if a little strange (most of which I just attribute the utter weirdness of the original story). I checked out the next book in the four-book series, but my mother said she didn't want me to read it. Sometimes about too much romance, I think? Or maybe she didn't like the magic. My parents are totally kosher with, say, Harry Potter, but sometimes they don't like the fantasies that get too - I don't know how to describe it. Spiritualist? Theologic? Whatever it is, the Books of Bayern are on my "read someday" list but they're not very high on said list. I'm sure I'll get around to them eventually.

5. The Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien and Jane Leslie Conly
Who knew one of my favorite childhood books had two sequels? Not me! I just found out, and now that I really think about it I slightly remember hearing something about a sequel once upon a time. I'm putting the other two books on my TBR list, but it'll probably be a while before I get around to them - I'm kind of past the target age group now. And they're not actually written by the author of the first book.

6. Redwall by Brian Jacques
Yeah, this series is, like, ginormous. I've probably read a dozen or so of the books, nowhere near the 20+ books that are in the series. They get kind of old after a while, and start feeling like they're all the same. I think my quitting the series was a combination of outgrowing it, and reading so many that I caught on to Jacques's tricks (like, seriously - how did I not notice that all of the plots are almost identical until I'd read so many of them?).

Have you read any of these series? Are there any I should add back to the top of my TBR pile?

If I Taught "Slow-Burn Romance 101," I Would Use These Five Books

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is fill-in-the-blank: if you taught some sort of 101 class, on a topic of your choice, what ten books would you use as examples? I cast around for a while before choosing my topic, but once I had it I knew it was the once: Slow-Burn Romance 101. Be careful below, because each of these features pretty major spoilers for their books/series.

1. The Harry Potter series
This series is basically one big slow-burn, because the characters all start out as little kids and discover their feelings for each other slowly as the books go on. You'll notice, class, that there are two main romantic couples at the end of the book: Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione. You'll also notice that Harry and Ginny waited five (and a half) books to become official, but Ginny had been showing signs of a crush on Harry for a lot longer than that. Ron and Hermione never really seemed romantically interested in each other through the usual signs (blushing around each other, forgiving the other's faults, etc.), but it came as a shock to no one when they got together in the last book. Why? Because Hermione yelled at Ron just a little too often, and because Ron actually read that book about complimenting girls so they don't get mad at you.

2. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
Yes, class, this is the infamous Percabeth that you've heard about. The key again is to notice the little things: the way they immediately had strong (though rather negative) feelings for each other at the beginning of the first book, foreshadowing that they would always have very strong feelings for each other. The way Percy kept a picture of Annabeth in his school binder at the beginning of the second book. The way he was the most upset out of everyone else at camp when Annabeth was kidnapped by monsters in the third book. The way Annabeth is absolutely furious when she found out that Percy spent a few weeks with Calypso in the fourth book. When you add in the more obvious signs (like Annabeth kissing Percy in book four), it's extremely clear by the fifth book that Percy and Annabeth love each other - which makes it that much sweeter when they finally get together.

3. All Fall Down (Book 1 of the Embassy Row series) by Ally Carter
This one is a little bit harder, because the rest of the series isn't out yet and Grace and Alexei's relationship isn't set in stone. But I'll bet anything that they wind up together in the end, because I can sniff out the signs. Grace turns to Alexei when she becomes overwhelmed, and he knows her well enough to take her to sit on the wall and detox for a while in silence. His father wants him to steer clear of Grace, but Alexei refuses because he doesn't want to stop being with her. If these aren't the signs of a slowly blooming romance, I'll . . . I don't know, I'll eat my projector.

4. No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
Yes, class, I realize this is a Middle Grade novel. But who says there can't be great slow-burn in MG, too? The great thing about the romance between Wallace and Rachel is that you get to watch it evolve from both sides, because the story is told in multiple-POVs. At the beginning, Rachel despises Wallace as the jock who's ruining her play, and Wallace despises her for being the drama geek who starts complaining whenever he suggests a minor change to the script. They slowly begin to thaw toward each other as the story progresses and they get better acquainted. When Rachel is the only person defending Wallace when he's under attack for sabotaging the play, and Wallace is so determined not to let the real saboteur ruin her beloved play, you can see that the slow-burn has reached its peak and is ready to burst into flame.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
What's a literature class without a Jane Austen book, right? Pride and Prejudice is the classic slow-burn romance novel, the one everyone points to as an example. Lizzy and Mr. Darcy's romance simmers for a long time, kept tiny by a combination of Darcy's pride (his initial refusal to dance, which puts Elizabeth on edge, and then later his reluctant to explain his past with Wickham) and Elizabeth's general stubbornness (her refusal to believe Darcy could be a decent person, her attachment to Wickham, etc). They both have to completely abandon their previous misconceptions about each other before they can get together, and so you can see their relationship grow as they slowly inch their walls down. And when Darcy pays Wickham to marry Lydia, and Elizabeth refuses to promise she won't marry Darcy, you know that things have finally come to a head.

So there we go. I've only got five today, class, because it's hard to come up with good examples of slow-burn! Have you read any good slow-burns? If so, please let me know in the comments below.

Ten Authors I Will Auto-Read

This week's prompt is to list ten auto-buy authors (or ten from a specific genre if that's too general). Most people must buy a lot more books than I do, because I can't come up with ten auto-buy authors at all, let alone ten from a specific genre. I'm a reader on a budget of sorts, only spending my Barnes & Noble gift cards on new books, so I try not to go crazy with getting new books. Plus, I really don't have shelf space for a bunch of new books streaming in all the time! We live in a town home, and I share a room, and I am physically unable to add another bookshelf to my room. Unless I got rid of my dresser, that is. Hmm . . .

Anyway, I altered the prompt to be auto-read authors, and still could only come up with seven. The trouble is that there's not really such a thing as an "auto-read" author for me, let alone an "auto-buy" one, because if a book looks inappropriate enough, I won't read it no matter who wrote it. These seven are some of the best authors I know, though, and I've read the vast majority of their new books over the last few years.

1. Margaret Peterson Haddix
If I had to name one true "auto-read" (and even "auto-buy" - I've bought four of the last five books she's written) author, this would be it. I've read every single one of her books, and loved all of them. I plan to continue reading every one of her books as they come out, until the day there are no more new ones. And then I will go curl into a ball and cry.

2. Angie Sage
I absolutely adore her Septimus Heap and TodHunter Moon books, and I am a sort-of fan of her Araminta Spook books (I've only read one), which are a little young for me. If she wrote any other series or standalones, I would most definitely read them unless they looked really, really inappropriate.

3. Jennifer Nielsen
I've read every single book of Nielsen's, too, and I've never met one I haven't liked. I'm not calling her an "auto-read"author yet because she's only written like seven books, and I'm never completely confident about an author's books until I've read like fifteen of them, but I've absolutely loved all of her books I've read so far - including A Night Divided, her post-WWII East Berlin book that comes out next Tuesday (my review will go live on Friday).

4. Jessica Day George
She's written a lot of great books, from the Dragon and Princesses of Westfalin trilogies to her standalone Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, to the Castle Glower series. Only a few months ago I would have listed her as a total auto-read author, but her book Silver in the Blood, which just came out, is one I'm not going to read. I'm still a big fan of hers, but I just can't say I've read "all of her books" anymore. Definitely keeping an eye out for any and all new books from her.

5. Gordon Korman
Ah, another great author! I've been auto-reading his new books for years now, and haven't come across one I didn't like. His last few books (Masterminds, the Hypnotists trilogy, the Swindle books, etc.) have been particularly great. I can't wait to read the second Masterminds book!

6. Wendy Mass
She's got a lot of great books, too, from the Willow Falls series to standalones like The Candymakers and Every Soul a Star. I don't read her Space Taxi series, just because it's for younger kids, but I do keep an eye out for the rest of her books as they come out - and get my hands on them as fast as I possibly can.

7. James Riley
I've only read four of his books (the Twice Upon a Time trilogy, and the first Story Thieves book), but I've enjoyed all of them and am definitely going to read anything new he puts out unless it's, like, some sort of Adult novel about explicit themes.

Yeah, this basically just works out to be another list of my favorite authors (very similar to my actual list of favorite authors), but there we go. All of these authors write very good books that I work very hard to get my hands on.

My Ten Most-Read Authors

When I first saw this week's prompt, I thought this would be really easy. All I had to do was go check out my most-read authors on Goodreads and write down the first ten, right? Well, wrong. Because I'm working on it, but I haven't yet added every book I've ever read to my Goodreads account. So while the first few authors are correct (mostly - because I've actually read even more than Goodreads thinks) the rest are sort of muddled. So my list is based off of my Goodreads list, but modified to reflect reality. Links go to my reviews.

10. J.K. Rowling
Heh, she probably doesn't really belong on this list. But hey, I've read seven of her books! And they were great books! And I didn't know who exactly to put here, so I put her!

9. Rick Riordan
Let's see, there are five Percy Jackson books, five Heroes of Olympus books, and three Kane Chronicles books. So that makes thirteen Rick Riordan books I've read, not even counting the three Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossovers (which I don't - I've only read two of them). I read all of his books, I just wish I could say I enjoyed all of them. I adored the original Percy Jackson books, though, so that's good. It's also what propelled me through the less-awesome Heroes of Olympus books.

8. Joan Aiken
Ah, now here's a childhood favorite! I honestly don't really know how many of her books I've read (though now I think about it, probably enough that she should be a lot higher on the list. Oops.), but I do know I've read a lot. I've read almost all of the Dido Twite books (which are awesome, by the way!), as well as at least some, if not all of the Felix Brooke trilogy (which I read when I was, like, eight, so I don't remember). I still get sucked into her books like nobody's business.

7. Wendy Mass

The Willow Falls books rank very highly on my favorites list, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, but I've also read almost all of her books: Every Soul a Star, A Mango-Colored Space, The Candymakers, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, the Twice Upon a Time trilogy, and many more. I count twelve books just from the ones I listed (Willow Falls has five books), and I'm pretty sure there are more than that.

6. E.D. Baker

I'm not really sure she should be this high on the list, but I did read like eight of her Frog Princess books, plus three of those Princess books and two Wings books. That only makes thirteen, but let me tell you - it felt like more. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Mostly.

5. Jessica Day George

Let's see, there are the two trilogies (Dragons and The Princesses of Westfalin), the three Castle Glower books, the standalone Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, and - wait, I thought there was more than that. Nope, just checked Goodreads, I was wrong. I mean, there was also Silver in the Blood but I haven't read that (and don't plan to). If I were a less lazy girl, I would shift her name farther down the list. As it is, she's staying here because I don't want to re-number like half of my authors over again.

4. Gordon Korman

Now this one, I know for real should be up here. I've read almost all of his books, including the long Swindle series, all five of his trilogies (Island, Kidnapped, Everest, Dive, and The Hypnotists), the On the Run books, the first Masterminds book, and his 39 Clues contributions, not to mention all the awesome standalones like No More Dead Dogs and Ungifted. From series alone, I count like twenty books. That's a lot of books! That's a lot of good books!

3. Carolyn Keen (and company)

Yes, I realize all of the Nancy Drew books weren't written by one author named Carolyn Keene. But you know what? I don't care. They have her name on their cover, so this counts. And I read so many Nancy Drews when I was younger, I knew I had to put this on here. Sure, they aren't the shiny and exciting new books that a lot of these other authors' books are, but they're classics and I loved them. Still do, actually. I know it's juvenile, but I can't read just one Nancy Drew - if I pick one up, I zip through like ten.

2. Margaret Peterson Haddix

Ah, here we have the author whose writing I am probably most devoted to. I will literally read anything Margaret Peterson Haddix puts out, no matter how terrible the synopsis makes it sound. I haven't read one book by her that I didn't like - and I've read all 30+ of her books (including Full Ride, Leaving Fishers, Double Identity, and Claim to Fame), so that really means something.

1. Agatha Christie

Pah, I was going to put Margaret Peterson Haddix at the top of my list until I realized that the spot had to be reserved for somebody else. Who else but the queen of mystery could take the top of my most-read authors list? I've been reading her murder mysteries for like eight years now, and have consumed quite a few of them.

So there we go. I got a bit muddled in the middle, but my top choices came out all right. Anyway, it's close enough, isn't it? Considering this is all based on my memory of reading books stretching back to when I was six years old, I think this is fine. What about you? What are your most-read authors? I'd love to know!

My Ten Favorite Fairytale Retellings

Ooh, I love this prompt! I went through a couple Goodreads lists looking for retellings I'd read, and wound up with like fifteen books/series to choose from after like five minutes. I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings, so this is going to be a lot of fun! Here are ten of my favorites:

1. Jessica Day George's Princess of Westfalin trilogy (My review of the first book)
This is a great series for many reasons. It's got retellings of three great stories (The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood), it ties them all together into one cohesive tale, and it does all of this by taking advantage of the twelve heroines in The Twelve Dancing Princesses (every book focuses on a different one of the sisters).

2. The Rumpelsiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
This is a great book that features a bunch of different retellings. Every chapter is a completely different retelling, and it's really neat reading so many completely different takes on the same story.

3. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George (My review)
This is another retelling by the amazing Jessica Day George! It's a retelling of one of my favorite tales, East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon.

4. East by Edith Pattou
This is one of my all-time favorite retellings, and also one of the first retellings I've ever read. It's another version of East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon.

5. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
This Newberry-winning retelling of Cinderella is famous enough I really don't need to describe it too much. Needless to say that I love it just as much as every other fairytale fanatic out there.

6. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
This is the follow-up to Ella Enchanted, and is a very loose adaptation of Snow White. I honestly love it just as much as the more famous Ella Enchanted, and only wish it were as popular.

7. The Twice Upon a Time series by Wendy Mass
There are three of these so far: one about Rapunzel, one about Sleeping Beauty, and one about Beauty and the Beast. They're funny, clever retellings of the classic tales, and I really love them.

8. The Half Upon a Time trilogy by James Riley
This awesome series doesn't focus on just one fairytale; it jumbles dozens of different stories together, from The Little Mermaid to Sleeping Beauty, and I love it so much!

9. The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker
No, I am not talking about that dreadful Disney movie by the same name, the one that was "based" on E.D. Baker's books. I'm talking about the wonderful book series itself, and more specifically the first book, aptly called The Frog Princess, which is probably the best Princess and the Frog retelling I've ever read.

10. Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
This is such a great retelling of Sleeping Beauty! It's really original, and I love it. Which reminds me, I should re-read it one of these days . . .

11. Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen (My review)
Yes, I realize this is more than ten books. I do know how to count, I'm just had to slip this one in there somehow! I thought of it when I was writing down Princess Ben, and I didn't want to get rid of any of the other ones already on the list. I read The Thirteenth Fey recently, solidifying my new addiction to Yolen's books, and discovered another incredibly original take on Sleeping Beauty. It's even more original than Princess Ben, but in a completely different way.

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any others to recommend? I'm always on the look-out for more retellings, so please tell me about your favorites!

Ten Fellow Bookworms (Who Happen to Live in Books Themselves)

I love to read. You may have picked up on this by now (the book blog being such a dead giveaway), but in case you haven't I just want to say it: I. Am. A. Bookworm. This is why I absolutely love reading about characters who take after my own heart, and spend their days reading. Here are ten of my favorite bookish characters:

1. Miri from Shannon Hale's Princess Academy trilogy (my review of the first and third books)

2. Henry from Violet Haberdasher's Knightley Academy trilogy (my review of the first book)

3. Trey from Margaret Peterson Haddix's Shadow Children series

4. Natalie from Andrew Clements's The School Story

5. Emma from Heather Vogel Frederick's Mother-Daughter Book Club series

6. Hermione from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series

7. Amy from the 39 Clues series by Scholastic

8. Jessica from Rob Buyea's Terupt trilogy

9. Isabelle from Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret

10. Catherine from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

Who are your favorite characters who read? Let me know in the comments section, and make sure to check out more Top Ten lists over at The Broke and the Bookish!

Top Nine Books That Feature Diversity

Okay, this week's prompt is a tricky one for me. I don't really think about diversity in my books, or at least I don't proactively go "I am looking for diversity." I just read what I read, and don't really think about whether specific books are "diverse" or not, so I'm not really sure about the criteria for identifying books as diverse. If any of the books on my list don't count as diverse, let me know in the comments section and I'll switch them out.

1. The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan
This one is easy. Riordan inserted diversity into the Percy Jackson universe with the subtlety of a sledgehammer when he devised this series. There are three girls and four boys. The races are: three caucasians, one Native American, one African American, one Chinese Canadian, and one Hispanic. One character (not part of the main seven) is gay. The whole series basically revolves around resolving differences between two "types" of demigods (Greek and Roman). It's all wonderfully diverse, and only sort of makes me dizzy.

2. All Fall Down by Ally Carter (my review)
Diversity is certainly not the focus of this great book about the granddaughter of an ambassador, but it's still ever-present on "Embassy Row," where people from dozens of different countries live side by side in their embassies. Grace's friends range from Russian to Israeli, just because all of her neighbors happy to be the kids/grandkids of ambassadors from other countries.

3. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (my review)
This isn't a book about racial diversity, but instead focuses on a girl with a clubfoot. She has spent her entire life living in a single room under the tyranny of her abusive mother, and the onset of World War II spells salvation for her as she flees to a world so completely different from her own.

4. Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff (my review)
There aren't many books written about below-average kids, so I think this can count as diversity. The main character provides a very different sort of "hero" than the usual super-talented smart kid.

5. Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix (my review)
Again, diversity really isn't the focus of this amazing book. But it still plays a role, as Becca becomes friends with a group of kids from very diverse backgrounds/races and struggles in school. I think their varying identities help her to become comfortable with her own identity, even as she struggles to hide her past from them.

6. The Princess and the Foal by Stacy Gregg (my review)
This is a book about a Middle-Eastern princess, so I think diversity can be assumed. It doesn't deal directly with "diversity" per se, but the entire book paints the picture of a life very, very different from our American ones.

7. Ungifted by Gordon Korman (my review)
I can't even remember if there are any minority races in Ungifted, but I do know that the entire book is about a school for smart kids, where an average kid accidentally becomes enrolled. Donovan teaches his classmates lessons about living life off the academic path, and the contrast between "gifted" and "ungifted" is a good showing of diversity. Right? I don't know if I'm reaching a little too far here . . .

8. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
This is a gorgeous book, by the way! The main character loses his hearing in a thunderstorm when he gets struck by lightning, so it's told partly in pictures. The whole book revolves around being deaf, and I'd say that's pretty diverse.

9. The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
This seven-book series isn't really about diversity . . . but then, it also is. Some of Septimus's siblings go through some pretty wild periods, and their parents never, ever give up on them. Even when Simon goes evil, and the four middle boys go live in the Forest for like two years, and Jenna turns out to be the heir to the throne, they never for a moment pause to question why they still sacrifice everything for their kids. This sort of love and devotion is what should be at the core of diversity, I believe, because true diversity is simply loving others regardless of what they've done or how they look.

Whew, done! What do you think? Do you actively seek out books that feature diversity?

My Top Eight Recommendations For People Who Like Harry Potter

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is rather open-ended. The prompt is literally "Ten Books For Readers Who Like _________." It doesn't get much more easy-going than that! I'm filling in Harry Potter because that's basically a catch-all for books with magic, adventure, and character-driven plots. However, in an effort to limit my reccomendations to books that are actually similar to the Harry Potter books in some aspect or another, I'm only listing eight instead of the usual ten.

In the description for each individual series I will explain how exactly it is related to the Harry Potter books. I'm also putting the synopsis and cover of the first book in the description, so you can get a sense for the series' flavor.

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Synopsis of The Lightning Thief:
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

I know, I know. You've already heard of these, touted as the "next Harry Potters." Well you know what? They are not the next Harry Potters. Nothing, ever, can replace Harry's position in the book world and in our hearts. However, the books are still good in their own right, apart from Harry's shadow. If you love Harry Potter for its magic, adventure, world-building and humor, then this is the series for you. Be warned, though, it's geared for a younger audience than the later Potter books are. You may not find it as funny as all the tweens do.

2. Septimus Heap by Angie Sage
Synopsis of Magyk:
The seventh son of the seventh son, aptly named Septimus Heap, is stolen the night he is born by a midwife who pronounces him dead. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across a bundle in the snow containing a new born girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take this helpless newborn into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus?
The first book in this enthralling new series by Angie Sage leads readers on a fantastic journey filled with quirky characters and magykal charms, potions, and spells. Magyk is an original story of lost and rediscovered identities, rich with humor and heart.

This is one of my personal favorites as a Harry Potter substitute. Why, you ask? Because it wasn't geared to fill the demand raised by the Harry Potter books! It is set in a completely different universe from ours (or a thousand years in the future - same difference, right?), in a world with royalty and occupational wizards. I can't praise this humorous, exciting and heart-warming series enough, and I highly reccomend it to anyone who loved the relationships in the Harry Potter books - and maybe secretly wished there was a whole series written just about the Weasleys.

3. Knightley Academy by Violet Haberdasher
Synopsis of Knightley Academy:
Henry Grim is a servant boy at the Midsummer School—until he passes the elite Knightley Academy exam and suddenly finds himself one of the first commoners at the Academy, studying alongside the cleverest and bravest—and most arrogant—young aristocrats in the country. They thwart Henry’s efforts to become a full-fledged Knight of the Realm, but he and two commoner classmates are determined to succeed. In the process, the boys uncover a conspiracy that violates the Hundred Years’ Peace treaty—and could lead to war! Can Henry manage to save his school and country from their enemies—and continue to study at the Academy?

This is a two-book series that has basically fallen to the way-side. I have my serious doubts whether the author will ever finish the series, but if she did I'd be first in line to buy the third book! This is a work of love toward the Harry Potter books, full of sly references to the Potter universe even as it tells its own absorbing tale of the penniless orphan Henry who gains admittance into the posh private boarding school Knightley Academy. There's no magic but lots of fun in this awesome series that I always recommend to people who are interested in reading the Harry Potter books, but don't like the magic in the originals.

4. The Prydain Chronicles Alexander Lloyd
Synopsis of The Book of Three:
Taran wanted to be a hero, and looking after a pig wasn't exactly heroic, even though Hen Wen was an oracular pig. But the day that Hen Wen vanished, Taran was led into an enchanting and perilous world. With his band of followers, he confronted the Horned King and his terrible Cauldron-Born. These were the forces of evil, and only Hen Wen knew the secret of keeping the kingdom of Prydain safe from them. But who would find her first?

These are classics, so I'm not going to say too much about them. Let's just say that they're full of enough humor, friendship, and love that fans of these aspects in Harry Potter are going to love these books.
Bonus: if you like the Lord of the Rings books, you'll probably like these. The authors were friends in real life, and there are a lot of similarities between the two series.

5. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Synopsis of Dealing With Dragons:
Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart - and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon - and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.

These are some really fun books that play on a lot of fairy tale tropes. They're similar to Harry Potter in that they take traditional rules of magic and stand them on their head. Also, they're really funny but still heartwarming at the same time. I read them for the first time as little girl, probably before I even read Harry Potter, and loved them so much. Then, being a little girl, I completely forgot the title and couldn't find them again for like five years. When I re-read the books for the first time two years ago, I still loved them just as much as I did as a little girl. They've got that same ageless appeal that the Potter books do.

6. The Dragon Slippers trilogy by Jessica Day George
Synopsis of Dragon Slippers:
Many stories tell of damsels in distress, who are rescued from the clutches of fire-breathing dragons by knights in shining armor, and swept off to live happily ever after.
Unfortunately, this is not one of those stories.
True, when Creel's aunt suggests sacrificing her to the local dragon, it is with the hope that the knight will marry Creel and that everyone (aunt and family included) will benefit handsomely. Yet it's Creel who talks her way out of the dragon's clutches. And it's Creel who walks for days on end to seek her fortune in the king's city with only a bit of embroidery thread and a strange pair of slippers in her possession.
But even Creel could not have guessed the outcome of this tale. For in a country on the verge of war, Creel unknowingly possesses not just any pair of shoes, but a tool that could be used to save her kingdom… or destroy it.

So, these are on my list of all-time favorite books. On the surface they don't seem to have much in common with Harry Potter besides the presence of dragons - and where Harry Potter's dragons are basically just really scary wild beasts that breathe fire, these dragons are thinking, speaking creatures who actually make friends with the main character Creel. But this is a great trilogy full of humor and heart where the basic glue that holds everything together is friendship. Friendship and love - sound familiar?

7. Story Thieves by James Riley
Synopsis of Story Thieves:
Life is boring when you live in the real world, instead of starring in your own book series. Owen knows that better than anyone, what with the real world’s homework and chores.
But everything changes the day Owen sees the impossible happen—his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the library. It turns out Bethany’s half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character.Bethany can’t let anyone else learn her secret, so Owen makes her a deal: All she has to do is take him into a book in Owen’s favorite Kiel Gnomenfoot series, and he’ll never say a word. Besides, visiting the book might help Bethany find her father…
…Or it might just destroy the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, reveal Bethany’s secret to the entire world, and force Owen to live out Kiel Gnomenfoot’s final (very final) adventure.

So this is a very new series, with only one book out. My review will be posted on Friday, but here's the short version: I basically decided the jury's still out until the later books come out and I see how the series progresses. However, the reason I would reccomend this just-started series to fans of Harry Potter is that it incorporates quite a bit of the plot of the high-fantasy series Kiel Gnomenfoot. Kiel himself is actually sucked into the "real world" (their world), and we learn most of the story of the seven-series fake story. While the basic facts aren't really that similar, a lot of the themes of the Kiel books are so similar to the Harry Potter books that it's just all-around awesome to read about them.

8. The Ember books by Jeanne DuPrau
Synopsis of The City of Ember:
Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked…but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all—the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness….
But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them?

These are for a younger age group, but I love them a lot. I think they're a great read for people who love Harry Potter for the way it changed the way they look at the world. In Harry Potter it's Mr. Weasley who best shows the shift in outlook the books provide: as a wizard, he sees the Muggle world from an entirely different light. And those of us who read the books also begin to see our world in a different light, at least while we're hanging out in the wizarding world. How on Earth can those poor Muggles cope with wearing tight clothing that actually goes between their legs?! In the same way, the books of Ember give us a different perspective on today's world. Because the people of Ember have never been above ground they are completely ignorant about so many things that we just take for granted. So one series looks at our world from the point of view of an outside culture, and the other looks at it by looking at the ruins we left behind.

Okay, there we go. Have you read any of these, and do you agree with my reccomendation? Are there any books you would add to my list?

My Top Ten All-Time Favorite Books

I'm participating yet again in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's prompt couldn't have been more fun: it's "all-time favorite books from the last three years!" This is where Goodreads once again came in super handy for brainstorming my top ten - I sorted all of my books by release date, and went through them jotting down titles until I hit 2011. Then I cut my list down to only ten. Here they here, in no particular order:

1. Septimus Heap #7: Fyre by Angie Sage (link goes to Goodreads)
Sorry, no synopsis because of spoilers. I love this book so, so much, though, that I had to put it on the list even though it's the last in a series. I bought it the day it came out (for like eighteen dollars!), and sucked it in as fast as I could. It was amazing, one of the best tie-offs I've ever read. I also like the new spin-off series, TodHunter Moon, but even if the universe had ended with Fyre I still would have been perfectly content, because I got everything I'd ever wanted by the end of its many, many pages.

2. The Missing #7: Revealed by Margaret Peterson Haddix (link goes to Goodreads)
Sorry again, no synopsis for fear of spoilers. This is the seventh book in an eight book series, and it. Is. Perfect. I had been trying to guess Jonah's identity for four years , and it still took me completely by surprise. Haddix is a genius, and I will literally auto-buy anything she writes at this point. For those of you who haven't read this series (for shame!), it's a sci-fi time travel series about famous historical figures and hidden identities. It's one of my all-time favorites series, and I have no idea how I'll wait until September for the last book.

3. Ungifted by Gordon Korman (link goes to my review)
The word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It's usually more like Don't try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction (ASD), a special program for gifted and talented students.
It wasn't exactly what Donovan had intended, but there couldn't be a more perfect hideout for someone like him. That is, if he can manage to fool people whose IQs are above genius level. And that becomes harder and harder as the students and teachers of ASD grow to realize that Donovan may not be good at math or science (or just about anything). But after an ongoing experiment with a live human (sister), an unforgettably dramatic middle-school dance, and the most astonishing come-from-behind robot victory ever, Donovan shows that his gifts might be exactly what the ASD students never knew they needed.

I am a huge fan of Gordon Korman's books, and have been for years. Ungifted came out a couple years ago and pretty much instantly claimed a spot on my favorites list. I was so happy last year when my brother gave me a copy for Christmas!

4. Praetor Wars #1: Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen (link goes to my review)
When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for.
Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes.
In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders.

You should have seen my face when I found out I'd won an ARC of Mark of the Thief! As a long-time fan of Nielsen's amazing Ascendance trilogy, I'd been desperately scrabbling for any news of the book I could find. It lived up to my expectations, and the only real fault I could find with it was the fact that I have to wait a year for the sequel!

5. The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming (link goes to my review) 
Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family’s extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read as well as a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards.

I've been fascinated with the Romanovs for years, so this book was definitely up my alley. I heard about it from a friend right around its release date (she saw it in a bookstore and immediately thought of me!). I didn't get around to it for another couple months, but once I did I absolutely loved it. It reads like a compelling fictional novel told in third person, but it's actually completely true, based entirely on real accounts with no embellishment. It is awesome.

6. Willow Falls #4: The Last Present by Wendy Mass (link goes to my review) 

This is another book from the middle of a series, so no synopsis. I love the Willow Falls books SO MUCH, and this is a wonderful book because it's the happy ending book where some things get tied off and some things begin. I'm a bit nervous now that Mass is writing another book in the series,  because this is going to be a really hard act to follow. 

7. Half Upon a Time #3: Once Upon The End by James Riley (link goes to Goodreads)

Yep, another series ender. I'm sorry, but I often love later books more than the first ones because they build on each other so much. This is an awesome fractured fairy-tale series, which combines absolute hilarity with a phenomenal ending (thus my love for Once Upon The End).

8. The  Missing #6: Risked by Margaret Peterson Haddix (link goes to Goodreads)

Yes, this is the second book from this series that makes the list. What can I say? It's an awesome series! This one holds an extra special place next to my heart because it features the last Romanovs (which, as you may have noticed, is kind of a big interest of mine). Both as a book in the Missing series and as a book about the Romanovs, this is a stand-out. It's probably the darkest book of the series subject-wise, but it tackles the material perfectly - the characters are portrayed realistically, the time period is done very well, and the action is toned down for younger readers but still carries across the full weight of what happens.

9. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (link goes to Goodreads)

A hilarious Southern debut with the kind of characters you meet once in a lifetime
Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known. Full of wisdom, humor, and grit, this timeless yarn will melt the heart of even the sternest Yankee.

This is a hilarious, quirky book that I just love to pieces. Mo, the main character, is outrageous but never annoying, and has me laughing the whole time. The action is crazy and exciting, and the whole thing somehow manages to portray meaningful messages about identity and relationships without ever seeming to. I love it!

10. The Ascendance Trilogy #1: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (link goes to my review)
THE FALSE PRINCE is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.
As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

I could have chosen any of the books from the fantastic trilogy to put on the list, but I knew I had to use False Prince because it is literally one of the best books I've ever read. I could read it over and over and never get bored. And I have, in fact, read it more times than I could count!

So what are your all-time favorite books? I'd love to hear about them!

Note: I was sick yesterday, and I couldn't get on the computer for more than half an hour at a time without feeling absolutely horrendous. That's why this is late getting posted and doesn't have cover pics. I have to get back to school, but I'll try to post my Teaser Tuesday later. In case I don't have time, I'll let you know now: Friday's review is going to be All Fall Down by Ally Carter.