Books of September

Yes, I completed my 100 books goal!!!  I'm planning to talk about that more in depth in the next post so I'm just going to do my regular summary for now.  I had a fruitful month, and as I think some of you know, I've started doing an occasional review for TYAC, the YA Curator, where we review Indie titles. It's a lot harder than I ever thought it would be, and I have a whole new respect for agents and all the work they do.  This month, I also managed to work a bit on my MG book. I'll post the first chapter on the blog here someday soon. Would love to hear what your favorite books were for the month, so please leave comments!




93. Dream Smashers by Angela Carlie (Indie) Reviewed for YA curator. Here.
94. Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz * Loved it!! This is a great sophomore novel by Hannah. I loved the relationship between the brothers. There were a few believability issues for me regarding the little sister, but I moved past that because I really loved the writing and style. Also the time line here was intriguing.

95. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard** I'm crushing on everything about this book. The writing, the awesome subject, the LI. My review is here.
96. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma This one was a disappointment for me. I didn't feel connected to the characters at all, and I really hated the older sister. I know that others have said they loved the premise, but for me I felt lost through most of the story. Guess that I just like to have some sense of what's going on before I get to the last chapter, but IG keeps all of its secrets until the very end. Just not for me.
97. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray** Sooo funny. I loved the characters and the whole idea in itself was just hilarious. I thought it went on a little too long, and I didn't care for the epilogue, but overall it's a very entertaining book and earns 5 stars for its humor.
98. The Night is for Hunting by John Marsden* Finally I've gotten back to this series and finished it! The 6th book was another favorite. It was definitely different and for me, far more emotional.
99. White Cat by Holly Black* The mafia, a sexy MC, magic. What's not to love here? The first half felt a little slow, but then around midway it really picks up and doesn't let go. LOVED the ending, so much that I was compelled to pick up the second book right away when I saw it at the library. Continued below...

100. The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden* The conclusion of the Tomorrow series! It was a little less intense than I expected, but Marsden did a good enough job with the other books that I couldn't make any predictions as to who would come out of it alive. I wish that I could see the movie. *wipes at the tears of injustice*
101. Amelia O'Donohue Is So Not a Virgin by  Helen Fitzgerald* So despite the believability issues with this one, I really enjoyed it. There was a BIG, HUGE, GI-NORMOUS twist at the end that I was not at all prepared for. Well, I had one glimmer of an idea that it might be that, but then I quickly dismissed it as being impossible. But it wasn't, and it was a very intriguing indeed! After reading other reviews, I'm shocked that more people didn't like it. It's been on sale at Amazon for under 2$ in the past month, and though it's not right now, I've noticed their books tend to go on and off their bargain racks repeatedly. If it sounds interesting to you, I'd watch to see if it goes on sale again.
102. Anathema by Megg Jensen (Indie) I read this for the Curator, but decided not to review it because I couldn't recommend it in good faith. Basically for a fantasy, at 200 pages, it just wasn't long enough. The characters were quite predictable and there was a lot of telling rather than showing. This story could have been so much more because the beginning was quite gripping, but there was just no follow through. So hard to predict these things.
103. Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer** Awesome second book in the series. Team Shay ALL the way. :)

104. Red Glove by Holly Black* As said above, after I saw this on the library shelf I had to get it. The beginning starts out really good and I was caught up in all of it through about 90% of the story. Then there was a little disappointment in the ending. Still worth every minute reading it though. I do love how unique this series is,  and I LOVE, LOVE how the curse workers suffer immediate (and sometimes physical) consequences for using their magic. Not something you often get with paranormals. Also the male voice in this is just awesome. The main character is sort of how I picture Eric from my own WIP, so of course, I'm sort of enthralled here. :)