2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge Finished

Thank you Jennifer at Reading with Tequila for hosting this challenge.

One of the rules of the challenge was: Rereads do not count towards the completion of the challenge. The challenge is about discovering books that are new to you.

There were a few books on the list that I had already read. Such as:  The Harry Potter Books, The name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Dibs in Search of Self by Virgina M. Axline, Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher and more. But I still had no trouble finding enough other books to set myself a goal.

My goal for this challenge was to reach level III - Read 15 books from the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation List.
I have reached this goal the 21st of November after reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

I have discovered several new authors through this challenge and will continue to read their books.

THIS is the list of the 15 books I have read for this challenge.
HERE is all the posts for this challenge.

2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge Book List

This is the list of the 15 books I have read for this challenge.

1.  Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (number 28 on the list)
2. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (number 223 on the list)
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (number 1 on the list)
4. Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (number 131 on the list)
5. Fire by Kristin Cashore (number 179 on the list)
6. The knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (number 144 on the list)
7. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (number 83 on the list)
8. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (number 202 on the list)
9. Un Lun Dun by China Miéville (number 119 on the list)
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth (number 2 on the list)
11. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (number 254 on the list)
12. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson  (number 108 on the list)
13. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (number 125 on the list)
14. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (number 208 on the list)
15. Delirium by Lauren Oliver  (number 9 on the list)

HERE is all the posts for this challenge.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure. Now, everything is different. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But then, with only ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable...

I like this book and it was interesting to read about a world where love is a disease and has to be cured at the age of 18. Until then girls and boys are kept as separate as possible and are not allowed to congregate at all. There is not a happy ending to this book and it ends in a cliffhanger. I will at some point read the other two books in the series and maybe also the two short stories as they are about characters it would be nice to know more about.

This book qualifies for:
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 9)

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has never fit in at her small-town high school, and now, on the eve of her 16th birthday, she discovers why. When her half brother is kidnapped, Meghan is drawn into a fantastical world she never imagined--the world of Faery, where anything you see may try to eat you, and Meghan is the daughter of the summer faery king. Now she will journey into the depths of Faery to face an unknown enemy . . . and beg the help of a winter prince who might as soon kill her as let her touch his icy heart. The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series. From Goodreads.

Quite a few authors are now using the world of the Fey as setting for their books, all of course slightly different but usually there is the Winter Fey and the Summer Fey. Julie Kagawa has added the Iron Fey which is deadly to the rest of the Fay as they can't touch iron. An interesting addition and I am looking forward to read more of this series, I think I already have the next two books on my Kindle.

This book qualifies for:
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 208)

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are found as orphaned babies in different parts of the world by eccentric fossil collector and explorer Gum. He adopts them, takes them to his London home and leaves them in the care of his niece Sylvia and the family Nurse. Then off he goes to continue his exploring, saying that he'll be back in five years' time. When the three little girls are old enough, they choose the surname Fossil for themselves and vow to make the name famous. At first they lead privileged and sheltered lives. But when Gum fails to return after five years, Sylvia's money begins to run out. First she is forced to take in some boarders - an engaging and eclectic mix of characters - but then she decides that the girls should go to acting school. This way they will be able to earn some money before they grow up. Pauline adores the school, as she dreams of becoming an actress. Petrova hates it, all she wants to do is learn about cars and planes and engines. Posy loves it too - she is born to be a dancer and the school is the perfect place for her. From Goodreads.

About a month ago I watched the film You've got mail for at least the 4th time. In this film when Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is losing her bookshop, she is sitting in Joe Fox's (Tom Hanks) book store and a customer comes in asking about the shoe series. Kathleen Kelly's favourite is Ballet Shoes. So I decided I wanted to read it.
It is a very cute children's book although the children haven't got an easy life. They do know they are still better off than other children even at times when they have to work to support the family. They are 3 very different girls but of course all lovely in their own way and the description of the characters around them is also very good and you can't help but loving them all. It of course has a happy ending. Well worth a read even as an adult.
I will at some point check the other books in this series.

This book qualifies for:
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 125)

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson's epic fantasy trilogy overturns the expectations of readers and then goes on to tell the epic story of evil overturned in a richly imagined world. A thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives in servitude, sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields. But now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that depends on criminal that no-one can trust and a young girl who must master Allomancy - the magic that lies in all metals.  From Goodreads

This was a brilliant book. This metal magic used is fascinating and especially with the Mistborn who can master all metals. But it is not easy to master so it takes a lot of practising. It is a story of suppression, loss and betrayal but also of hope, trust and love.
It is a trilogy but actually there is a fourth book set in the same world. I have all 4 books and I am looking forward to reading them all.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 108)

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I just do my job and try to avoid the Population Control Police, who dream of recycling scrubs into fertiliser. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels?It’s not like it’s dangerous… Well, turns out it is. Because I know every corridor, pipe and shortcut I’ve become the go-to girl to lead a revolution. I know if we find a gateway to Outside it’ll be suicide plain and simple. But guess who likes a challenge? I should have just said no… From Goodreads.

I have to say I am starting to be quite a fan of Maria V. Snyder. I have previously read her Glass trilogy and I have a few more of her books that I am looking forward to read.
This book was really interesting about people in the different levels and how they thought they knew how the others lived and when they got to know each other. It turned out not to be as they thought. I have just bought the next book and will read it soon.

This book qualifies for:
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 254)

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her. From Goodreads

I have heard about this book for a while and bought it back in beginning of March as it sounded like a book for me. I was not disappointed. It is an exciting fast paced book  and I never knew in which direction it would go next. I read until after 2am this morning just to finish it and one of the first things I have done today is to buy the sequel Insurgent. I have decided not to read it right away, then I have a book I really look forward to.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
2012 Where are you reading Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 2)

Un Lun Dun by China miéville

What is Un Lun Dun?
It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book.
When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong. From Goodreads.

Okay, this book I was kind of forced to read. My husband is a huge fan of China Miéville and his New Weird books, his favourite being Kraken. He has told me so much about these books and they just sounded way too weird for me. Then this YA book comes along and as he told me about it, I thought that it didn't sound too bad so I might try it.
No regrets. I really enjoyed it. The twist with the main characters, the dangerous giraffes and especially his play on words that is ongoing throughout the book. Not being British I am sure I missed some of the wordplay but what I did get was brilliant. By the way I adore Curdle. I still don't think I am ready for his "adult" books though.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
2012 Where are you reading Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 119)

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves—creatures of dreams and nightmares—has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything. Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner . . . and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful

businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death . . . not to mention her own roommate. From Goodreads


I heard about this book a while ago, bought it in October last year and have had it in my TBR pile since. I finally got around to reading it and I am glad I did. I really enjoyed it. Rachel Morgan is an okay heroine but I absolutely love Jinx and his family. It was also a very fun read and I will definitely pick up the next books in the series.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
2012 Where are you reading Challenge,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 202)

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours, but still. Normal.
Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. 
So Much for normal. From Goodreads.

I really enjoyed this book. I like books with lots of different kinds of paranormals and the ones where the "good" might not be as good as you think they are. This has got both. It is also fun. The heroine has to figure out who or what she herself is when she suddenly finds out she is not actually human as she thought she was. I enjoyed this so much that I have actually just bought the sequel to read for Dewey's Read-a-Thon tomorrow.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge, 
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (number 83)

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee - whose thoughts Todd can hear, too, whether he wants to or not - stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden - a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought? From Goodreads.

My husband recommended this book to me but it took me a while to get to it. I just couldn't get past the "poo Todd, poo" that my husband found very funny in the beginning of the book. It sounded very silly to me. My husband did try to tell me that it is a very serious book but then to hear him say that sentence again just didn't fit.
I have now read the book and yes, the first part with the dog Manchee and Todd seems quite funny but the rest of the book isn't.
It is a very fast-paced scary book with twists and turns that keep surprising you. I never expected much of what actually happened. I don't quite know how this can be a YA book as it is full of violence, brutal deaths and men being evil to each other.
I was gripped from around the second chapter and I will start the next book in the Chaos Walking series right away.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge, 
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge 

Fire by Kristin Cashore

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

Exquisitely romantic, this companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save for one person who plays a pivotal role in both books. You don’t need to have read Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven’t, you’ll be dying to read it next. From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this book. I have read Graceling but to be honest it is so long ago (several years I think) that I don't actually remember it. What I like about this book is Fire's struggle with her powers. How and for what to use them as she has seen her father do terrible things with the same power. I like what she becomes and the way she cares for the people around her.
I will definitely read Graceling again to spark my memory before getting hold of Bitterblue that is released in May

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge, 
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
Magical March 2012,

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

 It’s a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows—one that will spill out into the bright light of day.
Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn’t have the right connections—to the undead who run the town.
When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, 

hungry for fresh blood.. From Goodreads

I have been hearing about the books of The Morganville Vampires for a while now so I thought I better try out the first book in the series. Yes I do like it and I was close to giving it 4 polar bears but it just didn't quite make it up there. It was okay but no more than that. The likelihood of someone being beaten as severely as Claire and then staying in town, I just don't  find believable. But since she now stayed and is through this I do want to read more of this  series in the future.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love. From Goodreads.

This book is nr. 1 on the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation List and it is being turned into a film so I thought I better read it. It is good, no doubt about it and I got very caught up in it and read it in one sitting! Scary thought that kids between the age of 12 and 18 have to fight to death in a game show. I like the strong girl Katniss who already once has proven that she can survive against all odds and now has to do it again. This book is not for the faint-hearted, normal life for people in the twelve districts is a struggle and they have to be lucky to survive that. We do get a glimpse that life in the Capitol is not great either and I hope we hear more about that in the next books.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

An epic, richly inventive, historically sweeping, magical romance. When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist.
 
Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels.. From Goodreads.


Another book I really enjoyed. Yes it is a vampire / witch romance full of secrets and forbidden love but it is also about the murder of Diana's parents, the problems between species and a book all 3 species wants to get hold of. I am now looking forward to the next book of this All Souls Trilogy which is being released in July.

This book qualifies for:  
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge, 
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge, 
2012 Witches and Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
Where are you Reading Challenge 2012 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender. from Goodreads





 





This is a book about kids, small kids that are made into military commanders. It is brutal and scary. I kept forgetting that I was reading about kids around the age of 6 to 13. Ender is 6 years old at the start of the book and when the first part is over he is only 11. Ender is shown as someone who doesn't like to hurt people but at the same time he does everything he can to survive which means he has to hurt and injure somebody else quite badly. He hates it and is afraid to become like his brother.
He has been born just so he can go to the military school in space and by playing computer mind and war games learn how to fight the enemy. In order to make him what they want he is set against his classmates and never left anywhere long enough to become real friends with anyone.


I read this book for the 2012 Sci-Fi Challenge I am taking part in. The Pern trilogy that I have just read is also Sci-Fi but I didn't feel they fit the challenges of Want to challenge yourself to read outside your comfort zone in 2012? as they were re-reads and not outside my comfort zone of reading. Ender's Game was outside my comfort zone and I am pleased I have read it.


This book qualifies for:  
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge
2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
2012 Sci-Fi Challenge 

2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge.

I have over the last few months ever since Dewey's Read-a-Thon in October started following some book blogs so I would like to try this challenge in order to see what has been recommended over the last year.

The levels of the challenge are:
The Levels:
Level I - Read 5 books from the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation List
Level II - Read 10 books
Level III - Read 15 books
Level IV - Read 20 books
Level V - Read 20+ books

I will do level III - read 15 books. As I am wanting to take part in a few challenges I do not dare go higher than that.

Follow my progress HERE