Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Title/Author: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley
Publisher/Date published: Atheneum, August 30th 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.
It’s all a fake.
At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes — one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?
But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned —
Are about him."

YAY for Witchlanders! I LOVED Witchlanders! WOOHOO!

So, I got that out of my system, now on to the slightly more coherent part of this review ;)

I could tell you that it's been a LOOOONG time since I last had male main characters capture my heart like Ryder and Falpian did. I could tell you there's an AWESOME dog in it called Bodread the Slayer, who is more like a lapdog with very sharp teeth. I could tell you the intrigue and magic system are beyond brilliant.

But I could also tell you to just go and read the book.

Because, seriously, it was THAT amazing. I absolutely loved it, I cared deeply for all the characters and they've created a little place for themselves in my heart. Especially Bodread, I think he'd guard it quite nicely as well.
I want to be friends with these characters, hug them when they're sad, sing with them.

The only problem I have with this book is that the author told me she's not sure there'll be a sequel. I NEED a sequel! I'm not done having adventures with Falpian and Ryder and would love to see the Bitterlands for myself. This SHOULD be a series.

This book here is why I love fantasy. Go read it.

My rating: 5 stars

Top Ten Book on My Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This could also have been called: Books on Daisy's Birthday Wishlist, since the beginning of fall and my birthday kinda coincide :) (seriously, it's true, Wikipedia says so!)

Since I spend a pretty sizeable amount of time lusting after up and coming releases, this should be a breeze! Well actually, it would be, if there weren't too many of them... These will all be released between September 23rd and December 23rd 2011 :)

Oh, and my list is featured over at The Broke and the Bookish this week!

1. A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies: I've been pining for this book for ages and I have some serious cover love for this one. I'm a girl-in-gorgeous-dress-cover-slut, can't help it :)

2. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder: I have read and loved every single one of the author's books and am dying to read this one, I'm sure I'll love it as well. It's the first in her new series. I love her series.

3. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini: a little bit before the release of Brisingr it was announced that there would be a fourth book in this series and the wait for this one has nearly killed me, cause I NEED to know how it ends! I've been waiting for 3 freaking years already! (checked it: Brisingr came out in 2008)

4. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: another gorgeous cover! And a girl with a fatal touch! COUNT ME IN! I've heard nothing but good things from those who were lucky enough to get and ARC of this book, so I'm kinda excited about it being released soonish!

5. Eve by Anna Carey: this sounds like another wonderful dystopian and I'm kinda still in love with the genre.

6. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: I'm kinda expecting this to turn up on a LOT of the lists, but I'm gonna add it anyway. I haven't read Anna and the French Kiss yet and I'll probably be the last one to do it if I start now, but I'm still excited for this one to come out. I've heard such amazing this about these 2 books that I can't help but jump on the wagon and get excited as well. I really should start reading Anna...

7. The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen: another girl-in-a-dress on the cover and I'm loving it :) It sounds like it should be an amazing story and I hope it will be!

8. Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough: a MALE fairy godmother! Fairy godmotherness being genetic! WOOHOO! Seriously, this sounds like it's right up my alley! And I LOVE the cover!

9. Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs: I'm a greek mythology geek, it's true. I'm loving this trend in YA and this one has three teenage descendants of MEDUSA! How cool is that? I NEED this book!

10. Crave by Melissa Darnell: a girl half vampire, half powerful magic use, could be EPIC WIN! Excited to read this one soonish :)

So, that's my list, it was harder than I thought, so many books, only 10 spots on the list...
What let me know what's on your lists! Any should add to my already too-huge TBR list? (seriously, any bigger and it will start demanding the right to vote in the next elections as well..)

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Title/Author: Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers #1) by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Publisher/Date published: Disney Hyperion, September 1st 2004
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Don’t even think of starting this book unless you’re sitting in a comfortable chair and have lots of time. A fast-paced, impossible-to-put-down adventure awaits as the young orphan Peter and his mates are dispatched to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the Never Land, a ship carrying a precious and mysterious trunk in its cargo hold, and the journey quickly becomes fraught with excitement and danger. Discover richly developed characters in the sweet but sophisticated Molly, the scary but familiar Black Stache, and the fearless Peter. Treacherous battles with pirates, foreboding thunderstorms at sea, and evocative writing immerses the reader in a story that slowly and finally reveals the secrets and mysteries of the beloved Peter Pan."

So, confession time: Peter Pan was my first ever literary crush. Even though at the time I didn't even know what a crush was. I was 4. Or maybe 5? The point being: I LOVE Peter Pan. And this book had been on my to-read list for some time now, even though I hadn't yet managed to get my hands on a copy. So when it showed up on NetGalley, you better believe I clicked that button in under 1.5 seconds!

I love how this book gives us the story of Peter Pan before he was Peter Pan. Here, he's just Peter, the orphan boy who happened to cross paths with a chest full of starstuff and the Starcatchers trying to protect it. I'm not telling you what happens, but let me just say that it's SO GOOD! Just when I was thinking: but wait, this happened somewhere as well! And then BAM! it happened. And let me say that I LOVED the pictures in the book! I'm a sucker for a good picture in a children's book and these were wonderful. Even my Sony made them look good. Made me happy :)

This book is pretty big for a children's book, 478 pages in my eversion. But it flies by! Really, I blinked and then I'd read another 15 pages. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

I really liked Molly and LOVED Ammm the porpoise. 'Molly green teeth' cracked me up every time. Best. Greeting. EVER. My mom was looking at me funny when I snorted yet again.

I think I'm gonna go watch the Disney movie now :) I have it on DVD, hurray!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Pictures from my Paris Trip!

Okay, so you guys were all so nice and wished me a nice trip and asked for pictures :) So, over a month after we got back, I'm finally typing up this post. Hope you enjoy :)


So, that's me standing in front of a house overgrown with plants. Cool right? We actually discovered this while we were searching for a place to eat somehwere in the neighbourhood of the Eiffel Tower. I'd live in that house.


Me and the boyfriend in front of the Eiffel Tower. The weather was so nice our first night, we just sat on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower and lounged. And there was an incredibly nice Australian lady who offered to take our picture when she saw us trying to take one ourselves. So, thanks again! When it gets dark all these light come on and it's very pretty (seriously, that thing isn't normally, it's just a big lunk of metal sitting there).


That pretty building in the back is the Sacre Coeur, which is a beautiful church. Our hotel was actually near it, closer to Gare du Nord. We went in there to hide from the rain and they were right in the middle of mass. It was a pretty average Tuesday and there were a LOT of people inside in the middle of the day, and something I've never seen before: about 20 nuns attending. I'm not religious, but I thought it was really beautiful.


The Jardins du Luxembourg. There were chairs all over the gardens and we sat here for a while and rested after walking across half of Paris :)


Even on a random Tuesday, the Champs Elysees is terribly crowded.


If you look close you can see it's a picture of the incredibly LONG line for the Louvre! And this isn't even all. Seriously, we stood in line for almost an hour and a half. But it was totally worth it! If you ever go to Paris, visit the Louvre. It's amazing, even if it was just the building itself, I'd recommend going there. But the art is wonderful as well! We could tell in advance without a map if we were getting close to something famous, because there would be way more people around. There was even a LINE to see the Mona Lisa.


And the sun decided to grace us with her presence when we got out of the Louvre :)

So, that was my trip. We visited a lot more things, but sadly, we also forgot to take pictures of a lot of it while we were oogling the scenery.
Another part of Paris totally worth visiting: Montmartre, it's right next to the Sacre Coeur and on the Pace du Tertre are lots of artists sketching/painting/making art otherwise. It was wonderful. And they have all these little shops that sell crêpes, so yummy!

Ward Against Death by Melanie Card

Title/Author: Ward Against Death (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1) by Melanie Card
Publisher/Date published: Entangled Publishing, August 2nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job — bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon — the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying — so bringing people back from the dead it is.
But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.
However, nothing is as it seems — including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive..."

So how much do we love Melanie Card for making Ward be a twenty-year-old? If you're like me: VERY MUCH! There aren't enough books with twenty-somethings in it. The only thing that bugs me: it's immediately classified as Adult. But I think it would fit the New Adult (which should be way bigger than it is) better :) So that's where I'm putting it.

I really, really enjoyed this book! Right from the start where it challenges the gender stereotypes and flips them upside down. I mean, the female character is a very dangerous assasin, the male character is a wannabe-doctor and seems to have the damsel in distress down more than Celia does. LOVED IT!

Besides, Ward is just really likeable. I get how Celia would become attached to him. He's sweet. He's just a good guy and I think sometimes we're a bit short on good guys. So I liked him. And I LOVED his last name: de'Ath. SO COOL! And I loved that he performed surgery, the almost-doctor in me rejoiced. Though I would never ever even think of doing something like that on my own! Seriously!

This was a nice, relaxing, fluffy read. And I'm curious to find out more about Celia's murder and Ward's abilities and such, so I'm gonna make sure and add the sequel to my to-read list.

My rating: 4 stars

The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Title/Author: The Wild Rose (The Tea Rose #3) by Jennifer Donnelly
Publisher/Date published: Hyperion, August 2nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "London, 1914. World War I is looming on the horizon, women are fighting for the right to vote, and global explorers are pushing the limits of endurance at the Poles and in the deserts. Into this volatile time, Jennifer Donnelly places her vivid and memorable characters:
- Willa Alden, a passionate mountain climber who lost her leg while climbing Kilimanjaro with Seamus Finnegan, and who will never forgive him for saving her life.
- Seamus Finnegan, a polar explorer who tries to forget Willa as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.
- Max von Brandt, a handsome sophisticate who courts high society women, but who has a secret agenda as a German spy;
- and many others."

Ok, so I read The Tea Rose, which is the first book in the series about 8 to 9 years ago I think. Let's just say it's been awhile and that it was in the era before I discovered Goodreads. And my mind is a little fuzzy on what I thought of it exactly, except that I liked it, enjoyed reading it.

I didn't really remember much about the storyline, except that it had Jack the Ripper in it, and that was about it. So I had a bit trouble starting off, cause though the book explains all the relationships and summarizes what happened in the past, it would have been handier if I actually remembered it all. Don't let it deter you from reading this if you haven't read the other two. Everything is understandable, but there are a LOT of people in these books and I needed to get into it a bit further and then felt very comfortable there.

Because that is what this is: a very comfortable read. For most of the book anyway. That doesn't mean nothing shocking happens, cause shocking things do happen, but well, this book felt like having tea with my mother. Relaxing, fun. This book has the time to be leisure, it's pretty big. But I like my books kinda big.

Some things that bothered me: Seamus being called Seamie. He's a big, strong man. Let's just call him Seamus and not baby him. And I hope they caught this in the finished copy: somewhere along they talk about Willa's 'ankles', plural. And she lost one of her legs, so she only has the one. I know, details, but it bugged me.
And well, let's just say that some deaths were a bit too convenient for my taste.

BUT: very enjoyable story, you may want to take your time to read this, because it's big and there are many characters for you to enjoy. I did. Go read it, or the other two books in the series (I actually have #2 sitting on my shelf...).

My rating: 4 stars

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Title/Author: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Publisher/Date published: Hyperion, August 2nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger — a boy who seems to fade like smoke — appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know — about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy."

OMG! OMG! OMG! Seriously, I LOVED this book! And I'm so glad I did, because I've been pining for it for a year! Seriously, it was amazing.

And let me tell you why: this book read like a fairytale. Everything flowed and was beautifully worded and gosh, I just fell in love with the writing. I wanted to slow down reading because I was so loving the words. This almost never happens to me, usually when I'm this excited about a book I'm reading so fast because I want to know what happens next. And I did want to know what happened next with this one, but I also wanted to just savor the words.

And then there's the part of me who will always be a little girl loving fairytales, lying awake at night hoping the scary part won't come to life and wishing for the fairytale prince to save her if it does. And I got to indulge in that part of myself and it was wonderful.

I loved Lexi, she's a wonderful caring girl who feels a huge amount of responsibility and appears to be one of the only sensible persons in the town of Near. Gosh, the reactions to a stranger in Near were just medieval (I get that was sort of the point, but still). I loved her little sister as well, she was so CUTE!
And Cole, how could you not love Cole, all tortured amazing boy-ness of him! I just wanted to give him a hug.

I even liked The Near Witch, who was sort of the villain, but with a very good reason. Very nasty good reason. Very evil thing that happened to her. I loved how I could understand her being angry and wanting revenge.
The only persons I didn't like: the men. Seriously, all of them were just cavemen and hello, sexual harassment on one of the boys' part! Seriously! Not cool.

Anyway, the point is: I LOVED this book, it was amazing. You should read it. You should follow Victoria Schwab on her blog, cause she's totally nice and funny and there's a video there of her dressing up as a cupcake :) But most of all: YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!

My rating: 5+ stars