Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions for 2015

The Broke and the Bookish host a weekly meme of Top Ten Lists.

This week's question is:

Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015 -- bookish, blogging or otherwise!

Write more consistent blog posts: I have not been very good at writing in the past couple of months because of NaNoWriMo, work, and just normal life stuff. But I love blogging and interacting with the blog community and I am making a resolution to write more consistent blog posts.

Finish one of my W.I.P. books: I started two books this year and I want to finish at least one (if not both).

Read in genres I don't normally read: This includes historical fiction, horror, and thrillers.

Write more review posts: I love the blogging memes (like Top Ten, Waiting on Wednesday, and Feature Friday) but I also love the original posts I write. The main ones are reviews. I'm thinking of reviewing other things (like TV Shows, or K-Dramas, or movies. What do you guys think?)

Get a new apartment so I have space for more books: Seriously, getting a new apartment will largely be based on storage space for my millions of books. I moved recently and I did not realize that half of my worldly possessions were just books, they were super heavy and hard to pack up #worthit

Take the next step with my writing: I am lucky enough to have met awesome people with great advice on how to get work published, but I think that it's time that I just put myself out there and just see if I can get anything published.

Be More Active: A lot of my favorite activities involve sitting (reading, writing). So I think I should make a bigger effort to be active. I bought a Jawbone UP and I kind of love it, but I also hate it because it tells me how unhealthy I am. Whomp whomp.

Travel more: I was super lucky to go to New Zealand this year (and I got to see Hobbiton!) And I want to travel even more in 2015.

Play More Music: Music is seriously super calming and therapeutic. And I used to play a lot of instruments. At this point I'm probably only confident in playing piano, but I think that if I took time to just sit down and play every once in a while it would make me happier.

Learn another language: I kiiiind of know the beginnings of a couple of other languages, but I never put enough effort into really learning one, so this year I am going to. (This might help my traveling resolution).

Merry Christmas!

Monday Musings: Why we should be a little more grateful for Midlist Authors

You ever think about the authors who are writing the books you read? 

Not like the big-list J.K Rowlings and Suzanne Collinses. But the books that you discovered after clicking on the "recommendations" tabs a few times on Amazon. Or the random "Barnes and Noble Employees suggestion" shelves. 

I like thinking about them. But maybe that's because I want to be them one day. As an avid reader who is also an avid writer, I often think about the day that I might have one of my books sold alongside my favorite authors. However, I am also a realist. I know that not every book is a Hunger Games or a Harry Potter.

Last year, Wendy Higgins, a paranormal YA author, wrote a post about the myth that authors are rich. (Disclaimer: her original post about this was a little controversial. Another Disclaimer: this post is more for budding authors, but it could be interesting for readers to get to know the industry that publishes our beloved books). The biggest message here: some authors do not sell enough books to survive on that income alone. So sometimes when we expect lots of freebies from them, they have to say "no." And it is as hard for them to say "no" as it is for us to hear it. That made me super sad inside because I hate the idea that they have to look like a bad guy when it's not their fault at all.

There is a bit of good news for current midlist authors. There is a grant from SCBWI:

Critically acclaimed children’s book author Jane Yolen created this grant to honor the contribution of mid-list authors. The grant awards $3,000 to mid-list authors and aims to help raise awareness about their current works in progress. Jane was the first SCBWI Regional Advisor and currently sits on the SCBWI Board of Advisors.

Recently, Natalie Whipple (a Fantasy YA author) wrote about "Life on the Midlist."

I found her post both inspiring and terrifying. Inspiring because she loves writing despite the hardships, not because of the rewards. And terrifying because this is legitimately what I would want to do with my life (write) and I don't know where that dream might take me.

"When it comes down to it, no, I don't think I get as much from writing as I put into it. Yet I want to keep writing and I can't imagine doing anything else."

But this blog, while about writing, is also about reading. And Mrs. Whipple really did give me some food for thought as a reader. I really love that authors like her are still writing, because if it were only blockbusters then there is no way that there would be enough books to fill my shelves. 

I asked my Cousin Axie, who writes Books Are Bread, what her thoughts were on how she chooses her books. She wrote back with an essay (j/k, I love you Axie!)

"As a reader, I'm not usually influenced by national lists or national awards, except for the Hugo & Nebula, and sometimes the Newbury. But that's because I don't read as widely in those genres (Adult SFF & Juvenile Literature). As for YA, I mostly read according to genre & comparative titles, like if a book is Fantasy & compared with Laini Taylor, I'll be more interested in reading it. And as for The New York Times, I understand it's influence over how much exposure a book has (if it reaches top 100 on NYT, it will be placed in bookstores nation-wide & also chain stores like Target & Costco), but I don't believe I'm as influenced. Disclaimer: I am avid reader (and book blogger), so I actively look for books that might appeal to me, which are usually not commercial--my tastes run towards Fantasy & Romance with literary sensibilities. Think Melina Marchetta, Juliet Marillier & Franny Billingsley. Are these authors midlist? I'm not sure. Do I want them to place on the NYT? Absolutely. Not because I think the NYT is telling of "quality", but it definitely adds to "quantity" sold, and without quantity, there's a chance these quality writers won't be able to afford writing as their career (not specifically the authors I named, but midlist authors in general)."

I think I have read just as many midlist author books as well-known author books. So I owe a lot of my happy time to these authors who create these wonderful worlds for me to fall into.

One of the great things is that these authors are often on social media! So I think we should get on our blogs and Twitter and Instagrams and give a big old shout out to these awesome writers who shared their stories with us. Not only because some of us want to be them some day, but also because they have shared something awesome with us. And that's worth a thanks.

Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors in 2014

The Broke and the Bookish host a weekly meme of Top Ten Lists.

This week's question is:

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014

These authors didn't all debut or release their books in 2014, but they were new to me when I read them this year.

The Vault of Dreamers (The Vault of Dreamers #1)

by Caragh M. O'Brien 

The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success:  every moment of the students' lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students' schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What's worse is, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.

I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson 

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

Prophecy (The Dragon King Chronicles #1)

by Ellen Oh

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope...
Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles #1)

by Mary E. Pearson

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

Sidekick

by Auralee Wallace

Bremy St James, daughter of billionaire Atticus St James, has been cut off from the family fortune and is struggling to survive in a world that no longer holds its breath every time she buys a new outfit. To make matters worse, her twin sister is keeping secrets, loan sharks are circling, and the man of her dreams — a newspaper reporter — is on assignment to bring down everyone with the last name St James.
Things are certainly looking bleak for the down-and-out socialite until a good deed throws her into the path of the city’s top crime-fighter, Dark Ryder. Suddenly, Bremy has a new goal: apprentice to a superhero, and start her own crime-fighting career.
Ryder has no need for a sidekick, but it turns out the city needs Bremy’s help. Atticus St James is planning the crime of the century, and Bremy may be the only one able to get close enough to her father to stop him.
Now all she needs to do is figure out this superhero thing in less than a month, keep her identity secret from the man who could very well be The One, and save the city from total annihilation.
Well, no one ever said being a superhero would be easy...

Vicious (Vicious #1)

by V.E. Schwab

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.'

Dark Lord: The Early Years (Dark Lord #1)

by Jamie Thomson

Greetings, Puny Humans:
In your hands, you are holding a tome of staggeringly evil genius. It is not for the faint of heart or for the whining masses. It is for those willing to serve as my devoted minions while I plan my greatest feat yet: surviving life as a human boy and returning to my rightful place as the ruler of the Dark Lands. Before I can exact my revenge, I must infiltrate this world and learn its ways.
How, you might ask, is it possible that I, the Dark Lord, the Master of the Legions of Dread and Sorcerer Supreme, could be reduced to human form? And how is it possible that the Lord of darkness could be forced to attend school and befriend such pitiful life forms?
Only by reading my tale will you learn the truth behind the cataclysmic defeat that left me stranded on this accursed planet, Earth. But make no mistake, revenge will be mine... as soon as I finish my homework. Mwah, hah, ha!
Yours insincerely,Dirk Lloyd(aka the Dark Lord)

The True Meaning of Smekday

by Adam Rex

It all starts with a school essay.

When twelve-year-old Gratuity (“Tip”) Tucci is assigned to write five pages on “The True Meaning of Smekday” for the National Time Capsule contest, she’s not sure where to begin. When her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens – called Boov – abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it “Smekland” (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod?
In any case, Gratuity’s story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo.; a futile journey south to find Gratuity’s mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion.
Fully illustrated with “photos,” drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences, this is a hilarious, perceptive, genre-bending novel by a remarkable new talent. the planet from a really big catastrophe.

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)

by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

Monday Musings: NaNoWriMo Victory is Mine!

Finally!

Birds are singing! Bells are ringing! NaNoWriMo victory is MINE!

You guys, I cannot tell you what it feels like when you have accomplished something that seemed so ridiculously difficult. It's like when people run a marathon, except no running and no physical exertion, just a lot of mental instability coupled with the thought that I am the worst writer who has ever been born on this planet and how-can-I-ever-finish-this-book-NaNoWriMo-was-invented-just-to-make-me-feel-bad-about-myself!

Aaaanyway, I did it. I finished writing 50,000 words. Full disclaimer. They're not all for the same book. Another disclaimer, they're all crap. HOWEVER, I still finished. And it feels awesome. You guys, I would recommend doing this for any writer (and yes, we are all writers. If you've written something that you love then you are a writer). Even if the book you work on is not something you want to publish. It's great, the community is great, the inspiration is great, the feeling at the end of the rainbow is great. I would tell people to make their own personal NaNo and just make a goal for yourself. And track yourself. And post about it on your blog if you have one. I promise that if you link it in the comments of this post, you will have at least one reader following along with you (that's me if that message wasn't clear).

That is all. You can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

(Also, Happy December! Time for Holiday decorations!)

Feature Follow Friday: Favorite Character Death Scene

Every Friday Parajunkee and Alison Can Read hosts Feature Follow Friday. It's a great way to get to know the blogging community and they ask fun questions!

This week's Question is:

Describe your favorite book character death scene. Why is it your favorite? Was it a villain or a hero? What made it so good? 

*****SPOILER ALERT!*****

If you haven't read Days of Blood and Starlight, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or Percy Jackson The Last Olympian then there are SPOILERS!

*****SPOILER ALERT!*****

I don't have a "favorite" death scene since I'm always irrationally sad when fictional character I love die.

So I will answer this question two ways:

1. "What book death scene caused you to be forever changed because it was both totally devastating and still beautifully written." 
2. "What villain death scene was fairly satisfying because really that character had to die in order for everyone else to live happily ever after."

So here we go, the death scene that I thought was probably best written:

Hazael dying in Days of Blood and Starlight. He was such a great character and he was the person who anchored Akiva and Liraz to their humanity...and then he DIED! *sobs uncontrollably*

Excerpt:

"[Hazael] stumbled, looked at Akiva, then down at the sword. He let go of his own...he crumpled, and Akiva saw it all through the flare of clarity he had been desperate for...Hazael fell. Liraz threw herself to her knees to catch him. Akiva experience in splendid light the howl that shaped his sister's mouth. He heard her banshee grief and saw it, too. Sound had form, it was light, everything was light, and everything was grief, and Liraz was trying to hold Hazael's head as his eyes glazed, but a pair of Dominion grabbed her, dragged her, and Hazael's head fell. Akiva knew his brother was dead even before his head hit tile..."

My favorite villain death scene was:

Voldemort's death from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Come on, you have to admit that Voldemort HAD to die. There was no other way for the series to end. Also, he had been given so many chances for redemption over the course of his life and he squandered them all. Even the sad stories about his bad childhood weren't enough to justify all of the evil horribleness he did. He was a Hitler Wizard. He was Witler.

As I was writing this post I figured out a death scene that was kind of poignant and appropriate. And it was...

When Luke dies in Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian. 

He was the bad guy for the whole series because he helped Kronos rise up and plotted against the gods. But in the end he was a hero and his death was important because it gave him redemption and saved the world in the process. It was a pretty good death if you have to have one and it had a higher purpose. I like when the death of a character is more than a tear-jerking gimmick.

Excerpt:

It was silent for a long time.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Luke sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash...
"Good...blade," he croaked.
I knelt next to him. Annabeth limped over with Grover's support. They both had tears in their eyes.
Luke gaze at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew..."
"Shhh." Her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

Top Ten Tuesday: My Winter TBR List

The Broke and the Bookish host a weekly meme of Top Ten Lists.

This week's question is:

Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR List

A Darker Shade of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic, #1)

By: V.E. Schwab

Publication Date: Feb 24, 2015

Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands.
There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

The Return (Titan, #1)

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: Feb 17, 2015

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off…
It’s been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they’ve given him have been violent and bloody–which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He’s got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet.
Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy’s deal might be, but it’s a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to puree. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of ancient myth is gunning for her.
But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all.
Because history has once again been flipped to repeat.

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

By: Victoria Aveyard

Publication Date: Feb 10, 2015

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre ofthose she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

City of Savages

By: Lee Kelly

Publication Date: Feb 03, 2015

It’s been nearly two decades since the Red Allies first attacked New York, and Manhattan is now a prisoner-of-war camp, ruled by Warden Rolladin and her brutal, impulsive warlords. For 17-year-old Skyler Miller, Manhattan is a cage that keeps her from the world beyond the city’s borders. But for Sky’s 16-year-old sister, Phee, the P.O.W. camp is a dangerous playground of possibility, and the only home she’d ever want.
When Sky and Phee discover their mom’s hidden journal from the outbreak of the war, they both realize there’s more to Manhattan—and their mother—than either of them had ever imagined. And after a group of strangers arrives at the annual P.O.W. census, the girls begin to uncover the island’s long-kept secrets. The strangers hail from England, a country supposedly destroyed by the Red Allies, and Rolladin’s lies about Manhattan’s captivity begin to unravel.
Hungry for the truth, the sisters set a series of events in motion that ends in the death of one of Rolladin’s guards. Now they’re outlaws, forced to join the strange Englishmen on an escape mission through Manhattan. Their flight takes them into subways haunted by cannibals, into the arms of a sadistic cult in the city’s Meatpacking District, and, through the pages of their mom’s old journal, into the island’s dark and shocking past. Sky and Phee are dependent on each other, and their ragged posse, for survival, but as their feelings grow toward the handsome English boy Ryder, love and jealousy threaten to break them apart.
While primarily a thriller, City of Savages is also a story about the many meanings of sisterhood, told across two generations of New York women—those who survived a terrible tragedy, and those who were raised to live in its aftermath.

Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5)

By: Marissa Meyer

Publication Date: Jan 27, 2015

Mirror, mirror on the wall,Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley

By: Shaun Hutchinson

Publication Date: Jan 20, 2015

Andrew Brawley was supposed to die that night. His parents did, and so did his sister, but he survived.
Now he lives in the hospital. He serves food in the cafeteria, he hangs out with the nurses, and he sleeps in a forgotten supply closet. Drew blends in to near invisibility, hiding from his past, his guilt, and those who are trying to find him.
Then one night Rusty is wheeled into the ER, burned on half his body by hateful classmates. His agony calls out to Drew like a beacon, pulling them both together through all their pain and grief. In Rusty, Drew sees hope, happiness, and a future for both of them. A future outside the hospital, and away from their pasts.
But Drew knows that life is never that simple. Death roams the hospital, searching for Drew, and now Rusty. Drew lost his family, but he refuses to lose Rusty, too, so he’s determined to make things right. He’s determined to bargain, and to settle his debts once and for all.
But Death is not easily placated, and Drew’s life will have to get worse before there is any chance for things to get better.
A partly graphic novel.

Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)

By: Russell, Romina

Publication Date: Dec 09, 2014

At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….
Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.
When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancrian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.
Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.
But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?
Embark on a dazzling journey with ZODIAC, the first novel in an epic sci-fi-meets-high-fantasy series set in a galaxy inspired by the astrological signs.

A Thousand Pieces of You(Firebird, #1)

By: Claudia Gray

Publication Date: Nov 04, 2014

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.
Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Talon (Talon, #1)

By: Julie Kagawa

Publication Date: Oct 28, 2014

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

Stitching Snow

By: Lewis, R.C.

Publication Date: Oct 14, 2014

Princess Snow is missing.
Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.
Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.
When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.