Shaky Plans, but Plans Nonetheless.

It's a new year, my friends.

What am I doing?  ... *mumble* *mumble* blog post *mumble*  I like writing.  Don't judge.

I have no resolutions to make, no oaths to swear, or contracts to sign.  The new year is clean and wide and open, sparkling crystal free, with plenty of room in the margins for me to scribble my notes.  In fact, forget margins.  It's an entire book of blank pages.  There is unspoken dialog waiting to be memorized, descriptions not yet pinned down with words, entire volumes of hope, summer evenings, iced tea, whispered dreams, and shared hearts yet to be read or written.

Resolutions?  Pft, I say.  How boring.  How utterly conventional.

There are ideas, instead, bouncing around in my head.  Pictures and wishes and stories.  I want to start a new semester fresh and eager.  Embrace new friends and cherish old ones.  I want to travel across the states to places I've never visited before.  I want to stay up all night and laugh the sun out of its slumber.  I want to write centuries worth of "what if"s and a king's ransom of nonsense, and I want to weave myself into a fairytale.  Maybe I'll have an adventure or meet a kindred spirit or just get A's in all my classes.  Or actually bake muffins at college.  Or learn how to do a handstand.  Or defeat biology.  Or meet a prince.  Or all of them!

My plans are a little sketchy.  Bear with me.

2013, I declare you to be an amazing year.  It's just pretty much the way it's going to have to be, whether you like it or not.  It has been decided.

Reading Break part II (Breaking Reading part II? *cackle* *snort* ... Never mind.)

Can we ever have enough books?  Or posts about books?

Nope.

Thus: part II!

(A lot of these have 2013 release dates, so they'll probably be moved to my summer reading list.  But let's not quibble over details.)  (Quibble.  Quibble.  Quibble.  Quibble.  Melikes that word.)

Whafa.  A nightmare?  As a main character?  I must read this!  Please, please, please though, I beg you, please.  No love triangle.  No steamy, unrealistic, eye-rolling, fake romantic dialog.  Please.  Because "Eli" is described in the blurb as "hot," and I'm worried.  Don't be that kind of hot, Eli.  The world is asking.

Things that sound interesting: mist-shrouded castle, telepathic golden rats, bringing back the sun, ghosts and misfits.  Things that sound slightly overused: flaming red hair, main character "not who she thinks she is," and an ancient prophecy.  Weigh it out on the scales... eh.  The cover looks cool.  *cackle*  I do judge by the cover. #I'msoevil

Medieval world of forgotten magic.  The chessboard of the gods.  The spider queen.  An evil puppeteer.  An intriguing cover.  (Okay, you're probably tired of that.  I'll stop.)  Tempted?  Just a wee little bit /sarcasm.

It's about a bounty hunter.  'Nuff said.

*squee*  THE COVER!  LOOK AT THE COVER!  Okay, so I've never been a big fan of werewolves, but LOOK AT THE COVER.  Is that the Eiffel Tower?!  I think that's the Eiffel Tower!  And a full moon!  AND THE RIPS OH MY GOSH THE RIPS LIKE TEETH!  Well, actually, probably claws.  But "The Night has Claws" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

I think this is my only middle-grade fiction that I've listed.  I'm such a hypocrite.  Anyhow, three brilliant kids are on a mission!  At least, that's what the blurb said, so I'm not sure who the fourth bloke is.  They probably just stuck him on the cover because they needed someone to hold the flashlight and everyone else was busy.  That's my theory.

Any books you're looking forward to reading?

Reading Break

I have a lot of things that I want to do over break.

A) Sleep in.

B) Take naps.

C) Intend to go to bed early, but end up staying up late out with friends or watching The Office in my basement.

D) Earn money.

E) See friends.

F) READ MY EYES OUT.

This post is mostly concerned with F.  OH ALL THE BOOKS I COULD READ.

The possibilities...

I'm getting dizzy.

Top on my library reserved list and my Goodreads to read list are:

Le drool.  I.  Can't.  Wait.  This sounds so amazing and it's Maggie Stiefvater and I adored The Scorpio Races and and and and....

Lauren Oliver + middle grade fiction = YES.  I can't wait!  Liesl and Po was adorable, Before I Fall was tremendously well written (for a slightly older audience), and I'm in great anticipation of the finale to her YA trilogy.  More Lauren Oliver?  I say yes.

I've heard mixed reviews (courtesy of Goodreads) about this, but the cover is so gorgeous (erm, not that I'm judging based on that or anything) and it's about assassins and the premise sounds awesome.  A runaway pirate bride, pairing up with an assassin, and a life-altering curse.  Methinks yes.

Mirror twins, castaway children, a prince and his double...  Dude.  And I think it was self-published.  At least on the Goodreads page, it said it was published through CreateSpace.  Also all of the websites I tried to click on had been deleted, which makes me think that it was originally self published, but then bought out by a bigger company that is in the process of making "real" websites.  But those are just my ramblings...

This gorgeous book supposedly contains puppet masters, orphans, London, rivals, inheritance...  Not to mention a very cool cover.  (Okay, yeah, I just like good covers and let's all admit that judging books by their covers is sort of part of the marketing business.  It's legal and everything.)

Four kids decide to stop the school bully by kidnapping him.  Of course, things go wrong.  That's pretty much all I know, but it has black birds on it.  Four of them.  Sort of like The Raven Boys (Ye-ah!).  And on that note, now that we've (sort of) come full circle, I think we'll end.  I like neat little circle stories.  So visually pleasing.