Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2013

I'm not big on the book news; I tend to be pretty clueless about what's coming out and when, but there are some books I can't wait to get my hands on in 2013...

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 2 (currently untitled) by Ransom Riggs. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children almost became one of my favourite books... until it ended on a massive cliffhanger that drove me nuts. So needless to say I've been waiting for the sequel for awhile.

2. Just One Day by Gayle Forman. I looooved If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman, so I've been eagerly anticipating her next book.

3. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. OK, I haven't been excited about the Sookie Stackhouse books for awhile. But I'm excited for this one because it will finally bring the series to an end, and answer the question once and for all - will Sookie end up with Eric? She better.

4. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. I love, love, loved Anna and the French Kiss and really enjoyed Lola and the Boy Next Door, so I predict good things for the final book in Perkins' trilogy.

5. The Hybrid Chronicles 2 (currently untitled) by Kat Zhang. I really enjoyed Zhang's debut novel, What's Left of Me, when I read it recently, and I can't wait for the sequel.

6. The Boss by Abigail Barnette. Not content with pointing out how terrible 50 Shades of Grey is in her hilarious, brilliant recaps, Jennifer Armintrout (under the name Abigail Barnette) has decided to publish a feminist romance as the antithesis to the abusive dynamics found in the popular tome. Best of all? She's publishing it for free on her website, in serial form. It sounds awesome.

7. Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff. The plot sounds really intriguing - a young girl is haunted by her best friend, who pushes her to investigate her death and the other mysterious murders in their town. Plus the cover is super pretty, and I'm superficial like that.

8. Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief is one of my favourite books, and this will be Zusak's follow up. It's been a long time coming, and I anticipate amazingness.

9. Prodigy by Marie Lu. The first book in this series, Legend, was pretty decent, and I've heard the sequel is even better.

10. When We Wake by Karen Healey. About a girl who gets cryogenically frozen and reanimated 100 years later, this is one dystopian/sci-fi that sounds unique and has a lot of potential.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Warning: Spoilers for previous books.

I read most of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series in a binge a couple of years ago when I was going into massive True Blood withdrawal. While I much preferred the show, I enjoyed the series and eagerly awaited the next book. I got my hands on Dead Reckoning as soon as I could, but I was left extremely unsatisfied. As a result I wasn't exactly hanging to read Deadlocked, the latest installment in this seemingly never-ending series. The fact that it got pretty "meh" reviews didn't help. But when a friend gave me a copy I figured I may as well get it over and done with. So here we are.

Deadlocked has cemented the fact that I'm well and truly over this series. Harris needs to wrap this shit up. I feel like it should have ended at least three books ago - she could have even kept the storyline in tact, coz if you remove all the inane and pointless details you cut at least a third off the length. I got so sick of reading about Sookie's chores and whether her grass was dry or her tyres were flat. At this point it doesn't even add anything to her character, other than to reinforce that without her supe buddies she's incredibly mundane.

The story, such as it was, focuses on the fairy and vampire political problems that were introduced in previous books. Unfortunately, the main characters in these situations - Claude, Niall and Eric - were notably absent from the majority of the book and much of the action happens off screen. What we're left with is a whole lot of Sookie wondering what the hell is going on, talking to various people on the phone and sometimes face to face and, well, paying bills, cooking, cleaning... sleeping. Oh, wait, that was just me, halfway through the book. There weren't even any sexy times to keep things mildly entertaining. 

I've never been a fan of the fairy plot, and was happy when I heard it would be resolved in Deadlocked. Too bad the resolution is the most anti-climactic thing I've read since Breaking Dawn. Seriously, Charlaine Harris? We had to put up with this fairy crap through multiple books for that?! So not worth it.

As for the vamp sitch, I thought the whole murder investigation and Eric's attempts to escape both being arrested and being married off would make for an interesting plot. I thought wrong. As I've already mentioned, Eric is mostly absent from the book and the plotline didn't really go anywhere. BILL was in Deadlocked more, and I wanted to throw things when Sookie started getting all friendly with him again. He freaking RAPED her. He should have stayed in Peru. I was also disappointed to see Quinn reappear. And Sam is just so dopey. I know many suspect he will be Sookie's endgame, and if that's the case I may have to hurt a book.

I'll read the next in the series, because it's the last and I want to see how everything comes together. Or if it does. But it's just not fun anymore.

Rating: 2/5

Eye Candy
At least this gave me a good excuse to post these pics (like I need one):

Follow Friday: Five Living Authors I'd Love To Meet

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This week's topic is about authors we want to meet: "Name three authors you would love to sit down and have a meal with, just talking about either their books or writing advice."

Because I'm a) Mildly OCD and like everything to be in multiples of five, and b) Chronically indecisive, I'm going to cheat and name five authors I'd love to sit down with. To make it more realistic (like it would ever actually happen), I'm going to stick to living writers. Coz otherwise my fantasty dinner party would be pretty dead (badum bum).

1. J.K. Rowling. I'd say: "What would it take for you to write the prequel of Harry Potter, and tell the story of Snape, Lily, James and co's time at Hogwarts in more detail?!" Then I'd do whatever it took - hand-feed her chocolates, make endless cups of tea, fan her with palm leaves... Just call me Dobby.

2. Markus Zusak. I'd say: "How did you get so awesome?! Can you rub some awesomeness off onto me?" Because The Book Thief is just 100 per cent pure awesomeness and amazes me every time I read it.

3. Charlaine Harris. I'd say: "Will Sookie end up with Eric at the close of the series?" If the answer is no, I might have to hold her hostage, Misery-style, until she gets it right. What? I'm not crazy. Just crazy for Eric.

4. William Goldman. I'd say: "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me Fezzik doesn't die in Buttercup's Baby." If you've read the anniversary edition of The Princess Bride, you'll know how much that "bonus" chapter/fake sequel leaves you hanging - literally, in Fezzik's case.

5. Stephanie Perkins. I'd say: "Be my best friend?" I'm guessing she's as fantastic in real life as she is in her writing.

Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

This book answered a bunch of questions but left me asking even more.

Having read the entire series back-to-back over a few weeks last year, I'd been super excited about the release of the next Sookie Stackhouse book. But sadly, while it satisfied me to some extent, I can't help feeling a bit... disappointed.

Dead Reckoning follows Sookie's continuing (mis)adventures as she deals with her complex relationship with the (hot hot hot) vampire Eric, a rough patch at work, her newly-found fairy family living in her house, and more than a few crazy creatures out to get her. The thing is, none of this is particularly new; it's just variations on what's happened in previous books, and I have to admit I'm getting a bit over it. Of course, I lurved anything involving Eric, and found his part of the storyline gripping, but was unimpressed by how little it progressed and how some major issues were left hanging (obviously setting up the story for yet another book in the series). I find the whole fairy plot kind of dull, and paradoxically was frustrated by how much of the story it took up and also how much was left unresolved (again). Yes, Sookie got some answers, but most of those seemed unimportant compared to what wasn't answered.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book while I was reading it, but after I finished I kind of felt like, "Was that it?!" Although a couple of big things happened towards the end, the majority if the book moved quite slowly (for instance, I was shocked when I realised I was a third of the way through - it felt like all Sookie had done was clean her house and go to work!) and overall it seems to have been more of a set up for the next book than a story within itself.

Rating: 3/5

Spoilery Talking Points

• I really, really hope Sookie doesn't leave Eric and get back with Bill, as the end seemed to hint at. I might just give up on the series if she does. I hate Bill, especially in the books.
• I'm so disappointed with the way Alcide's character has gone - he could have been a serious contender when he was first introduced, but now he's just such a tool box.
• I felt so sad for Pam! I also wanted to see more of her AND Eric. 
• Was it just me, or were the two big showdowns at the end kind of anti-climatic? Sure, they were pretty violent (especially the assassination of Victor), but it almost seemed too easy for Sookie's side. I mean, they only had one casualty, and yet completely wiped out the other side?! I know they're the good guys and all, but it to me it was a bit too much of a Meyer-style cop out.
• Did I mention I'm over the fairies? It doesn't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon, though. 
• After making a big thing about the portal being too small for anyone to travel through, it seemed dumb that they were able to dump a body - even a "small" one - in there.
• As for the cluviel dor, I predict Sookie will use it to get Eric out of his marriage to the Queen of Oklahoma. At least, I hope she does that - and DOESN'T get back with Bill. The thought also crossed my mind that she could maybe turn Eric into a human... but that's probably pretty implausible.

Eye Candy
As a massive True Blood fan (it's the main reason I read the books in the first place), I pretty much pictured the entire cast as their characters. That's coz I think, for the most part, the casting is spot-on - especially for the guys.

Sookie and her harem

A shirtless Eric, just coz

I love this pic of Jason - it sums up his character perfectly

How awesome is Pam?! I love her

 

Sure, Alcide is an a-hole in this book, but that doesn't mean we can't perve