Tag Archives: science fiction books

Aug 18 2014
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Niki’s Top Twelve Must-Read Books!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 This weeks Post was supposed to be along the lines of must-read titles that other people have told me about. Because I haven’t yet read many of the titles that made that list (and therefore can’t personally vouch for their awesomeness) I decided to take a spin on the topic and present my own list of must-reads. I realize this must look similar to many of my other lists, but I just can’t can’t seem to stop raving about my all-time favorite titles. Now, of course, this list is only helpful if you’re a speculative fiction fanatic like me. ;)

Niki’s Top Twelve Must-Read Books:

Fantasy:

The Name the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

 Science Fiction (specifically Space Opera):

Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
Survival by Julie E. Czerneda

Young Adult:

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Partials by Dan Wells
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

 Urban Fantasy:

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

These titles have all earned their spots in my favorites list and are usually the first books I recommend to new readers of their given genre.

What books would make your list?

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 2 2014
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Stacking the Shelves – July 2014 Edition!

Stacking the shelves

Hosted by Tinga’s Reviews

Stacking the Shelves is probably my favorite book blogger feature. I absolutely love looking at all of the great books other readers bring home and equally love sharing my own haul! Here’s a look at the books that stacked my shelves this month:

Hardcopies:

1

 This month I surprised myself by sticking to my Read 4, Buy 1 challenge. I’m excited about all of these books, but of course, Silver Shadows is going to get top priority!

Ebooks:

Yeah, totally an eclectic ebook category this month…

Library:

2

 Even though I want to read these, I sadly won’t get around to all of them. I don’t know what it is about libraries, but I find myself requesting things constantly that I don’t have time for just because I know I want to read them eventually. Less effective.

Audio:

 Even though I read constantly, there’s something nice about being able to devour a book while focusing on something else. I listen to them on walks, while doing dishes, while cross stitching, and even as I fall asleep. Audiobooks rule.

ARCs:

September 23, 2014
October 14, 2014
September 2, 2014

 I have been clamoring for copies of these for months – so excited!!

 What books stacked your shelves this month? :-)

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 6 2014
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Stacking the Shelves – June 2014 Edition!

Stacking the shelves

Hosted by Tinga’s Reviews

In the last month’s STS I mentioned splurging on a ton of bargain hardcovers that wound up lost in transit. They turned up a week later (evidently one of my neighbors had been hanging on to them) and I was stoked! So much so that I shamelessly went and ordered even more. I added twenty-one books to my collection, most of which were hardcovers, and paid less than three dollars for most of them… How cool is that?

Hardcopies:

ARCs:

 The only ARC acquired this month was actually a loan from Nikki over at There Were Books Involved. She saw my twitter post about how much I absolutely loved The Naturals and graciously offered to let me borrow the sequel (how awesome is that? Best blogging friend EVER!). Anyway, I’ve since read it and send it back and it is every bit as awesome-sauce as the first book – review to come.

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In other news, I finally caved and bought another bookshelf for my YA/Middle Grade library. I’ve been needing it forever, but the company I bought my shelves from discontinued the cherry color about two years ago (hence my stalling). I finally decided I’d rather have a mismatched shelf than none at all. It looks a bit odd, but now all of my books have space on the shelf so I’m happy. :-)

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 In conclusion, it was great month over at The Obsessives Bookseller.

What books did you get this month? :-)

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 24 2014
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Top Five Favorite Book Cover Attributes!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 I definitely love having an excuse to talk about book covers. While you can’t entirely judge a book by its cover, I believe they are essential in that initial assessment of “is this the type of book I’d like to find out more about?” Today’s post was supposed to discuss book cover trends that I like/dislike but I decided to switch it up because I would call the things I like about covers attributes rather than trends.

Top Five Favorite Book Cover Attributes!

Dragons:

Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight
Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight
Dragon Outcast by E.E. Knight

I know, of all the Dragon covers I have to choose from, why did I take three from the same author to showcase? There are so many and interpretations of what dragons look like, and I’ve always felt that these perfectly represents how I picture dragons. They are also frigging cool books.

Dresses:

Sever by Lauren DeStefano
Rapture by Lauren Kate
The Selection by Kiera Cass

Iwould be willing to bet that everybody will have this one on their lists today because in my opinion girls in pretty dresses is the most prominent book cover trend, especially in the YA category. I don’t care. I don’t like all of them, but I especially love these.

Luis Royo:

Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda
Riders of the Storm by Julie E. Czerneda
Rift in the Sky by Julie E. Czerneda

 I can’t have a cover geek-out without mentioning Luis Royo. Not only is he my favorite artist, but is responsible for my all time favorite book covers. I’ve chosen to represent the covers from the only Czerneda series I haven’t yet read (but am dying to).

Tattoos:

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

 Yes, I realize Mercy doesn’t really have all of these tattoos, but I still think the covers are gorgeous and highly marketable because they decided to keep them anyway (there is actually an interesting story behind how Mercy ended up with tattoos on… One which I will talk about if I ever get around to posting the Q&A from the Patricia Briggs book signing). Anyway, I love the colors and the fact that the tattoos change to match the theme of each book.

Cloaked Thieves:

Way of Shadows by Brent weeks
Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan
A Dance of Blades by David Dalglish

I don’t know when it happens, but somewhere along the line I found myself drawn to cloaked figures on covers. Maybe it was the mystery they promise, but all of a sudden I had a dozen thief books on my shelf… not a bad problem to have. Unless you consider that I bought them solely on the covers (good thing they’re mostly good).

Well, that’s my list for now. I might add to it later, but these are definitely my top picks. What book cover trends do you like?

By nikihawkes

May 20 2014
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Top Ten Books My Friends Recommended!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today’s TTT was supposed to be Top Ten Books About Friendship and I have to admit I found the topic a bit… underwhelming. So instead I decided to showcase the absolute perfect recommendations my friends have given me over the years. A good friend knows exactly what kind of books you like to read, and mine haven’t let me down yet! Without further ado:

Top Ten Books My Friends Recommended!

 Some of the books above are among my all-time favorites and I am totally grateful my friends knew my tastes in reading well enough to single them out for me. There’s a chance I may not have picked them up so quickly otherwise, or worse, I may not of discovered them all… that’s a horrifying thought.

Anyway, what great recommends have your friends given you?

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 8 2014
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Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Ever Read!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

  I’ll admit I had a little more trouble than normal compiling this particular top ten. In my opinion, the uniqueness of a book strongly depends on how many other books you’ve read within that genre. So one book that I found unique may be just like another one that you’ve read and vice versa. Although, I guess all of these posts are subjective, so I don’t know why I am taking exception to this week, haha. Anyway, here are the ten awesome books I landed on:

 Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Ever Read

All of these I found unique one way or another, whether they had a different writing style, point of view, setting, or plot, each one stood out to me as fantastically atypical. If I’m not mistaken, I rated all of them at least four stars or higher, and some of them are among my all-time favorites… Quite possibly because of the uniqueness.

 What’s the most unique book you’ve read and loved?

by nikihawkes