What's Next? is a weekly meme hosted by IceyBooks.

Every Thursday, select 3-5 books (not too many, not too little!) that you want to read but can't decide which one to read first.

Post the cover, and if you want, the synopsis or even a random line from the book, for each of your selections.
At the end of your post, ask readers to vote on which one you should read next!
Even if you don't end up reading your readers' top choice, you'll know what the majority is excited for.

For more info, visit the introduction post HERE!

To participate, go HERE!

My picks this week are:

Midnight City (Conquered Earth #1) by J. Barton Mitchell

 

Lord of the Flies meets  War of the Worlds in J. Barton Mitchell's alien-invaded post-apocalyptic world where two teens and a young girl with amazing powers must stop the aliens’ mysterious plan.

Earth has been conquered by an alien race known as the Assembly. The human adult population is gone, having succumbed to the Tone---a powerful, telepathic super-signal broadcast across the planet that reduces them to a state of complete subservience. But the Tone has one critical flaw. It only affects the population once they reach their early twenties, which means that there is one group left to resist: Children.

Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, and his current target is Mira Toombs, an infamous treasure seeker with a price on her head. It’s not long before Holt bags his prey, but their instant connection isn’t something he bargained for. Neither is the Assembly ship that crash-lands near them shortly after. Venturing inside, Holt finds a young girl who remembers nothing except her name: Zoey.

As the three make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, they encounter young freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and the amazing powers that Zoey is beginning to exhibit. Powers that suggest she, as impossible as it seems, may just be the key to stopping the Assembly once and for all. 

Midnight City is the breathtaking first book of the Conquered Earth series.

Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) by Mike Mullin

 

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Scent of Magic (Healer #2) by Maria V. Snyder

 

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead — human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

So, what do you think, which one of these novels I should read next?

Have you read any of these & did you enjoy it?

Leave me a comment & help me decide!

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 

 

 

 

 

The Daylight War

(Demon Cycle, #3) 

by

Peter V. Brett

Publication date:

February 12th, 2013

With The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett surged to the front rank of contemporary fantasy, standing alongside giants in the field like George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan, and Terry Brooks. The Daylight War, the eagerly anticipated third volume in Brett’s internationally bestselling Demon Cycle, continues the epic tale of humanity’s last stand against an army of demons that rise each night to prey on mankind.

On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.

Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more — the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.

The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.

Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons—a spear and a crown — that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.

But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.

Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all — those lurking in the human heart.

Yay, finally, I've been dying to read this book, and I've been dying to see the cover, and wow it's awesome. I had a feeling Inevera will be on the cover, but wow, so amazing, and just look at the full cover:

...so amazing and gorgeous and beautiful, and that description of the book, I WANT IT NOW!!! Anyway, as you can guess from my gushing above, this series is one of my all-time favs, and if you are a fan of epic fantasy, I can't recommend this series enough. I can't wait to re-read The Painted Man & The Desert Spear, as well as the two novellas, before I delve into this one :) February can't come soon enough!!!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created 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 oth!er 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.

 

So, My Top Ten Books & Authors I'm thankful for (in no particular order) are:

1. The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett

I can gush about this series so much, because is my most fav epic fantasy series, and I've been waiting for this book for so long now, and this gorgeous cover & the description was finally revealed last week, and it's so gorgeous, and sounds so awesome, and yeah, I'm still dying to read it, so that's why it's my most anticipated book in 2013!

2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I think no explanations are necessary here, except it's Neil Gaiman's new book, duh, and when it comes to me, that says everything, 'cause he's my #1 fav author, and yeah, I'm dying to see what Neil Gaiman's brilliant mind has created now!

3. Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders #3) by Brandon Mull

I loved the first book in the Beyonders series - A World Without Heroes -  so I expected the sequel Seeds of Rebellion to be good, but Brandon Mull actually blew me away with it, so of course now I can't wait to see how everything will end for Jason & Rachel & the others in the last book Chasing the Prophecy!

4. With All My Soul (Soul Screamers #7) by Rachel Vincent

I got hooked on the Soul Screamers series this year (thanks to Fiktshun's SSRC, if it wasn't for Rachel hosting this challenge, no idea when I would've read the series, or I even might have stopped halfway through, not realising what I would've missed) but I got hooked so bad, and now I can't wait for the final book to be published, and then I'm going to re-read the series once more, and I'm looking forward to it almost as much as I am to reading With All My Soul.

5. Isla & the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Ok, so the cover still isn't revealed, and ever since I read Stephanie Perkins' previous books, I've been waiting to read Josh & Isla's book, and finally this will be the year :) because we have a description, yay :)

Falling in love in the world’s most romantic city is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year at the School of America in Paris, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to deal with the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever. Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.   

6. Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid #2) by Seanan McGuire

I loved the first book Discount Armageddon, so I can't wait to see what Verity & her whole family will be up to in this sequel!

7. The Outside (The Hallowed Ones #2) by Laura Bickle

I loved this book so much, one of the best reads in 2012 for me, and I can't to see what will happen next in the sequel! I already got chills all over me just thinking about it :)

8. A Witch Alone (Winter #3)  by Ruth Warburton

Ok, so I still haven't read the 2nd book A Witch in Love, but I loved the first book A Witch in Winter so much, and I'm hoping to read the 2nd one soon, after all I already own it, so I'm already looking forward to the last one A Witch Alone :) 

9. The Rising (Darkness Rising #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Ok, another confession to make, I've read only the Darkest Powers trilogy so far, but I'm planning to read these books, too, before The Rising is out, and I'm eagerly waiting for it because of the well-loved characters that will be back in it, that's why :)

10. Of Triton (Of Poseidon #2) by Anna Banks

Ok, for the last place on my top 10, I decided for the sequel of Of Poseidon - Of Triton! I enjoyed a lot Of Poseidon, it was lots of fun, so I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel.

Of course, there are a lot more 2013 books I'm anticipating, but I decided to skip special mentions, because I guess I can go on & on...

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"This corpse was frozen in the same way, because even though it was dead, even though it wasn't moving, he could sense life inside it. It was as if something lay just beneath the surface of that parchment-thin skin, something writhing and twisting and breathing in that endless inverted scream."

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is being hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. 

This is a great weekly event where everyone can keep track of the books finished last week & the books planning to read this week!

So, once more I haven't participated in this meme for a long time. Why? Because I got into this on-again/off-again reading slump for the last couple of months, every time I thought it was over, I was wrong, so I know I'm not quite there yet, but I did read 2 books this week, so I decided to participate this week.

What did I read last week?

I re-read Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, and I did that in a day :) Ok, it's not a large book, but I've been in a reading slump for quite some time now, and I've been planning to re-read it for a while, too, it's been a couple of years since I've read it, and so when the trailer for the movie was released & I watched it, surprisingly I got excited about the movie (I thought it will be awful, but it seems it will be really good, and it seems almost true to the book, but more on the comedy side, and yeah, now I can't wait to see it), anyway, I knew it's time I read Warm Bodies again, and what can I say, I loved it again, actually I loved it even more now :) The first time I read it I rated it 4.5, but now I changed it to 5 stars rating. This book rocks!

Also, I read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. It was quite good fantasy, and I loved it, I gave it 4.5 of 5 rating, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series!

What I'll be reading this week?

To be honest, no idea. I'll probably continue reading The Fury by Alexander Gordon Smith, I started it last week, and so far I loved it. I have some review books & galleys I should get through, but this reading slump has been annoying when it comes to that, so I might re-read an old favorite, maybe it's time for Harry Potter once again ;) It did help the last time!

So, what are you reading this week? Leave me your links!

Cover Characteristic is a meme hosted by Sugar & Snark!

The goal of this meme is to post your favorite 5 book covers with the week's characteristic.

This week's characterictic: Rose(s)! 

If you'd like to participate in this meme, go HERE!

 

 

My Top 5 Book Covers with Book(s) are:

 

#5 - Juliet

 #4 - The Dark Tower

 

 

 

 #3 - Kill Me Softly

 

 #2 - The Storyteller

 

 #1 - Touched