Best Books of 2015 #Giveaway Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Best of 2015 Giveaway Hop hosted by the fantastic bloggers, Mary @ Book Hounds and Kathy @ I Am A Reader, Not A Writer! I was a lot stingier with my five star reviews than I thought this year, so today I'll be featuring those twelve books.

What You Can Win

Funny enough, most of these books were audiobooks, so I think audiobooks win for me this year. If you click on the titles below the picture thingy, you can read my reviews of the books.


Golden Son by Pierce Brown
The Martian by Andy Weir
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Exquisite Corpse by Pénélope Bagieu
Charming by Elliott James
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Nova by Margaret Fortune
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Cathrynne M. Valente
Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier
Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach

Giveaway

Audiobook Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Title: Seraphina (Seraphina #1)
Author: Rachel Hartman
Narrator: Mandy Williams, Justine Eyre
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (Random House)
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Acquired Via: Personal Collection
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend the court as ambassadors and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

The newest member of the royal court, a uniquely gifted musician named Seraphina, holds a deep secret of her own. One that she guards with all of her being.

When a member of the royal family is brutally murdered, Seraphina is drawn into the investigation alongside the dangerously perceptive—and dashing—Prince Lucien. But as the two uncover a sinister plot to destroy the wavering peace of the kingdom, Seraphina’s struggle to protect her secret becomes increasingly difficult...while its discovery could mean her very life.

My Review

Seraphina.

Seraphina...

*sigh*

Even after being a blogger who writes about books and a librarian who talks about books almost daily, it is still difficult to put my feelings about this book into words. I read Seraphina for the first time three and a half years ago (before its release), and I had nothing to say to sell this book. I was slack-jawed.

A month later, I am still looking at the draft of this review. Yes, I have been toying with it for that long.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers I'd Frame As Pieces of Art

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame as Pieces of Art


1. The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1)
by Sherry Thomas



2. Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) by Kristin Cashore
I absolutely loved this cover, which is the original cover for the series. It was the entire reason I picked up the audiobook at the library on a whim, and the book has become one of my favorites of all time....

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Once again, thank you so much to Angela at Reading Angel, Lori at Pure Imagination, and Candace at Candace's Book Blog for hosting the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I didn't reach all of my goals, but here's how I did as of 12:01 CST, July 11th:

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon

First off, a big shout-out to Angela at Reading Angel, Lori at Pure Imagination, and Candace at Candace's Book Blog for being awesome and hosting the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon. I'm pretty behind on my reading because of All The Things*, so I thought this would be a great time to join my first Read-a-Thon. *squee* I don't know how much I'll be able to get done due to some extenuating circumstances which have come up (hence the late post about this), but I'm sure I'll get a bit done in the car. Soooooo enough of my rambling. Here's what I'm hoping to read:

The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry

Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

I would list more, but I'll be blown away if I can finish three books in three days. I'll post updates here, I reckon, and link my reviews back to this post whenever I get them put up.

Have a great week!

UPDATE #1 - 11:10pm CST July 10, 2012

I'm about 89% of the way through The Wild Princess. I hope to finish it before bed. (I had to take a break because I was getting carsick.) I'm super excited about Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses! *dances*

UPDATE #2 - 11:05am CST July 11, 2012

I'm a little over halfway through Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses. I know I probably won't finish Seraphina today, but at least I'm on a roll!