Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

Posted on December 22, 2015     41 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. They created the meme because they love lists. Who doesn’t love lists? They wanted to share these list with fellow book lovers and ask that we share in return to connect with our fellow book lovers. To learn more about participating in the challenge, stop by their page dedicated to it and dive in!

This week’s topic: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

Mogsy’s Picks:

My list of books is a mixed bag, to say the least! Please, Santa, I’ve been very good this year. And while you can do many things, I know you can’t speed up time or go into the future to bring me books that haven’t been published yet, so all my picks are books that are already released.

A Knight of Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin

For the first time, this collection compiles the three Dunk and Egg prequel novellas to A Song of Ice and Fire. Why opt for the print edition instead of the ebook or audio? Why, because of the visual presentation of course, which includes illustrations from the amazingly talented artist Gary Gianni. Whenever I hear that a book has artwork, I always prefer the physical copy! I flipped through the pages of this in a bookstore once, it is indeed gorgeous.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Another reason to opt for a physical copy is when the finished hardcover looks this amazingly cool. I’ve read Six of Crows already, but since I listened to the audiobook, I totally wouldn’t mind if Santa were to leave me one of these limited edition pretties with the black-stained pages under the tree. It looks awesome!

Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman

Yet another reason to yearn for a physical copy is when you have no other choice! Silver on the Road is a book I’d love to listen to in audio; I imagine the experience would be incredibly immersive given the fantasy-western setting and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, as of this writing there is still no audiobook version or even news of one in the works. I don’t know if I can wait much longer, the book is too tempting! If this were to show up under my tree on Christmas morning, I certainly wouldn’t complain.

The Art of Fallout 4 by Bethesda Softworks

Here’s some random useless trivia about me: I like to collect art books. I might have mentioned that before in passing, but I especially like video game concept art. I like poring over things like costume or weapon design, seeing how the artists envision the game environment and characters, and tracking how ideas eventually make it into the final product (if they do at all). Fallout 4 the game is one of the most visually stunning games I’ve ever played (amazing, for a post-apocalyptic wasteland) and I’d love to see the artistic development behind it.

The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak

Video game art books make up the majority of my art book collection, but  sometimes depending on what it is I’ll also pick up art books or illustrated compendium-type books for movies, shows, etc. As it happens, I like collecting anything that has to do with Star Wars too, so this is definitely a must-have.

Monstress #1 by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda

I was actually offered this graphic novel for review earlier this year, but due to time constraints I had to decline. I did make sure to put Monstress on my to-buy list though, because the preview pages that I was sent simply knocked my socks off. This technically is only one single issue of the comic, but it is filled with over 70 pages of drop-dead gorgeous art.  Last I heard, first printings of this is already sold out at most comic book stores.

The Official A Game of Thrones Coloring Book by George R. R. Martin

In case you missed it, I made an announcement in my last Bookshelf Roundup about an upcoming feature I’m hoping to start in the new year: Adult coloring book reviews. I hope to check out this one at some point. I’ve heard that it’s more of a book of illustrations and line drawings rather than a true coloring book, but I feel up for a good challenge, and if nothing else I can always keep this just to appreciate the beautiful artwork.

Zoomigurumi 4 by Joke Vermeiren

Speaking of artsy-crafty things, I’ve been known to enjoy some crocheting in my spare time. Before my Baby #2 came along earlier this year I made several amigurumis (crocheted stuffed toys) for her, but it’s been close to a year since I last picked up the hooks and yarn. I hope to get into the hobby again after the holidays, once things slow down a little. I only found out recently there has been another addition to this great series! I’ve made some adorable animals from previous Zoomigurumi books, and it would be fun to try new patterns.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

I make it no secret that I’m a huge fan of Juliet Marillier, though I was pretty late in joining the club so there’s quite a backlist of her books for me to plunder. Right now I’m in the middle of reading her Sevenwaters series and I haven’t even gotten a chance to pick up her Wildwood series yet. Santa, if you would to be so kind as to bring me these two books, you won’t even have to wrap them – they’re just too beautiful to cover up!

Elantris (Leather-Bound Book) by Brandon Sanderson

If I were rich…I’d probably take up rare book collecting as a hobby, buying up any and all ultra-limited or special editions of books by my favorite authors, like this leather-bound and embossed edition of Elantris commemorating the 10 year anniversary of Brandon Sanderson’s first novel. Seriously, if I were swimming in money,  I would have dropped $100 on this baby already. Unless I win the lottery though, I’ll just settle for fantasizing about Santa bringing me one.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015

Posted on December 15, 2015     17 Comments

I’ve read many great books this year, and I can’t really definitively nail it down to ten, but I tried to include the ones that made me think about them the most often after reading them. (Some of them I am still crying over!)

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Wells has introduced us to a wildly imaginative world with these fully fleshed out characters and traditions that take the reader on quite a journey. This is one of the more innovative books I’ve read in any genre. There haven’t been many books that make me feel like I’m reading something that’s truly fresh and special, but Wells has managed to make me feel like I’ve stepped into a whole new world with the Raksura while keeping elements that make it feel familiar.

Silk by Robbie Thompson

I enjoyed this book, especially that I’m usually not the biggest fan of Spiderverse, but I almost always love the Spider-Women of that verse. Cindy joins Jessica Drew and Anya Corazon (Araña) in my heart. Her story focuses a bit on her past and her present, giving readers a brief glimpse of who she was before she became Silk and who she is now, shifting between a brilliant, headstrong teenage girl on the edge of adulthood and a socially awkward adult woman who’s trying to find her place as a person and a superhero.

Earthrise by M.C.A. Hogarth

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was a fun dash across the galaxy with a diverse groups of characters as Reese tried to make ends meet while dealing with her new, very private crew member. Reese has nothing but the best intentions for her crew and for herself, but she often finds herself in the worst predicaments. She leads a dangerous life, but she’s not really a fighter. She depends mostly on her wits to get her out of situations. She carries a gun of some sort because she feels she has to, but she has no idea how to actually use it.

Suicide Squad Vol 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass

This was a mostly fun book full of fun and mayhem. It was like reading the comic book version of The Expendables with villains complete with dramatic team shots, stealth missions being bumbled with over enthusiastic members wanting to get right to the good parts, some sexy tension between characters, explosions, and corny one-liners.  This was an enjoyable read for the most part, and I look forward to continuing their misadventures.

Acacia: War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham

A truly diverse, sweeping fantasy. One thing I truly appreciated about this is the lack of violence, especially gendered violence. I don’t mean that there’s not any fighting in this book, but there’s not pages upon pages of torture or rape or any of that nonsense to prove that this story is heavy. I’m especially glad there wasn’t the constant looming rape threat (against women) that is so prevalent in many fantasy novels trying to establish themselves as serious, grimdark books. I appreciate that he able to find depth in his writing that didn’t require that. Also, I appreciated that that Durham tried to present a struggle where the grievances between these two races was not just a simple matter of who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s good and who’s evil.

Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson

Urban fantasy, even Urban Fantasy novels, can be a little formulaic, so it’s always nice to read something that adds an offbeat spin to an old familiar story. This managed to be touching, dark, and funny all at the same time. Emma Rios’ art really makes this story pop. The mixture of bright and dark art makes Lucifer’s world a visual treat with Nelson’s narration. Again, Nelson has given me a comic that I’ll continue to enjoy as I explore Lucifer’s world and unlock more of her secrets. Now excuse me while I bump this novel higher up my TBR list! Why wouldn’t I want to read more about a rock-n-roll ninja burglar?

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Despite all the ugliness in this book, it was counteracted with so much beauty. I had one minor complaint with a transition later in the book. It seemed a little hurried as Butler tried to wrap up the story, but I did like what it transitioned into.This was my first read by Octavia Butler, and it took me so long to read her because others had told me she could be a heavy read. And while I expected something amazing, something that would probably affect me on a profound level given how many people I know read her books and praise how she touched on issues, I hadn’t expected the incongruous beauty that waited for me or the feelings and thoughts that was this book.

The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

I love books that weave music and magic in interesting ways, and this book definitely fulfilled that part of me. I would be lying if I said that part of my ratings and feeling on these books come from many reasons aside from just the story itself. I connected with the story as a southerner and knowing how small towns can be with their secrets and their “haints.” Secondly, and the larger reason I started this series, is that I love books that combine music and magic in inventive ways. As a musician, I could relate too well to so many lines in this books about the hum and the shiver.

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

This story follows two teenagers seventeen-year-old Sudasa, a daughter of a wealthy family, who doesn’t want to be a wife, and eighteen year old Kiran (known as Five through much of the novel), a farmer’s son who doesn’t want to be a husband not even to a wealthy wife. However, their destinies, hopes, and dreams still intertwined in this beautifully, heartrending novel of two people who just want to be seen as people and not as their genders. If you’re looking for a love story, this is not it. There are hints of possibly feelings there, but mainly because of what they represent in the oppression of their society. Mainly, this is a story about a boy and a girl who want to be so much more than what their society says they can be.

The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor

The thing with Southern Gothic novels is that one might not really consider them speculative in nature, but they’re so haunting and chilling all the same filled with things that could be considered magical realism. This is the first novel I’ve ever read by O’Connor. She’s known more for her short stories and wrote only a very few novels in her lifetime. It’s the struggle of a family whose marked by a legacy by a mad uncle who claimed to be a prophet, leaving behind two nephews who struggle against and for the marks he’s left on their souls, two family members living two extremes–the overzealous and the overdisciplined–as they follow a path of self-fulfilling prophecies left behind by an old man. The title of this books comes from the bible verse Matthew 11:12 (from the Douay-Rheims version of the bible): “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.”

What have been some of your top reads of the year?