Top Ten of 2014 ~ Day 1

Best Books I've Read in 2014

For the sake of variety, I added a few different books to my Top Ten Books of 2014 since this post would have been identical to my Top Ten Tuesday Best books of 2014.

The Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas: Nightmare Nine + Giveaway!

Hi! I’m Courtney Alameda, author of the soon-to-be published YA horror novel, SHUTTER. I love Christmastime and all things scary, so I wanted to celebrate by sharing some of my favorite Christmas beasties with everyone this year—twelve of them, to be exact! Join me and a few of my blogger friends every day from December 13 – 24, as we feature different holiday nightmares . . . if you dare!

2 Top Ten Tuesdays on a Saturday ~ Oh Yes

A TTT post on a Saturday. Better yet: Two TTT posts on a Saturday. What is this sorcery?

I always forget to do Top Ten Tuesdays. It takes me way too long to format and determine which ten things I want to choose for the week. These past two weeks had great topics that I want to do, so I'll slave over my computer and publish my Top Ten New-To-Me Authors of 2014 and Top Ten Books of 2014.

Mini Review ~ The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Series: N/A
Genre: YA Contemporary 
Page Length:  312 Pages
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Finished copy via library
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

12 Days of Lailah ~ Characters' Christmas Wishlists + Giveaway

Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Lailah that Styclar Street Team Founders are doing! I absolutely adore Lailah and its amazing author, Nikki Kelly.

Today I'm sharing the perfect gifts to give the lovely characters of Lailah, but first, a little bit about the glorious novel:

The Book:

Title: Lailah
Series: The Styclar Saga #1
Author: Nikki Kelly
Release Date: October 7th
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Summary from Goodreads:
The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

And now the gifts I'd give these awesome characters! I feel like these items would be on their wish lists and would make great presents: 

The Unproductive Reader

As I sit here forming my 2014 End of the Year survey, I can't help but be shocked by the low number of books I've read this year. 73. 73 books. That's it?!

Now before you back away from this post in horror, trust me, I can explain!! With the horrible combination of school, stress, fatigue, traveling, procrastination, and reading slumps, no one could read as many books as they had hoped. I've had a total of 12 reading slumps this year. Yes, TWELVE. When I find a book I don't like, I tend to shut down and wallow in self-pity before jumping back into the swing of things. But that's not even the biggest factor that's led to this predicament, it's been my rereading obsession.