Angieville

Once again, on the eve of 2009, I've put together my best shot at a Best Books of '08 list. I whittled  last year's list  down to 12 books--one for each month of the year. This year it was a bit harder. I managed to get it down to the Round of 16 and gave up there. So here they are in all their cozy wonderfulness. Best of 2008 (in order of publication) Iron Kissed   by  Patricia Briggs The Mage's Daughter   by  Lynn Kurland A Curse Dark as Gold   by  Elizabeth C. Bunce * Grimspace   by  Ann Aguirre * Heroes Adrift   by  Moira J. Moore Clockwork Heart   by  Dru Pagliassotti * Armed & Magical   by  Lisa Shearin The Host   by  Stephenie Meyer Wicked Game   by  Jeri Smith-Ready Rites of Spring (Break)   by  Diana Peterfreund What I Was   by  Meg Rosoff Silent in the Sanctuary   by  Deanna Raybourn Suite Scarlett   by  Maureen Johnson Graceling   by  Kristin Cashore * Heir to Sevenwaters   by  Juliet Marillier Lament   by  Maggie Stiefvater * * indicates a debut author

First published in ebook format by  Samhain Publishing ,  The Trouble with Kings   was just recently released in print format. I read and loved  Crown Duel   several years ago and this one caught my eye because it sounded similar in a delightfully swashbuckling sort of way. This book is also being billed as a fantasy romance--a genre I'm beginning to feel is a bit finicky (for me at least). It seems very difficult to strike just the right chord.  Flian is a princess. Though when we first meet her she does not recall that rather important fact about herself. She does not, in fact, recall anything about herself as she apparently took a fall off a horse, a bump on the head, and lost her memory. She awakes in an old woman's cabin and is soon whisked off to a castle by her "cousin" Garian. Garian seems very keen to let Flian know she was on her way to see him when she took the fall. Oh, and she was also on her way to her marriage to a dour king named Jason who is also in r

Just FYI, today I'm  guest blogging  over at  The Book Smugglers . The always awesome Thea and Ana are celebrating their first blog anniversary by holding  Smugglivus  and you don't want to miss the veritable gold mine of authors, publishers, and book bloggers they have dropping in daily. I put together an Ocscars-style breakdown of the best "performances" of '08. Head on over and  check it out !

Two Raine Benares books down and I can say three things: first--I am officially a Lisa Shearin fan, second--I liked  Armed & Magical  just as much as (if not more than)  Magic Lost, Trouble Found , and third--it's going to be a long wait for book #3,  The Trouble with Demons , to come out the end of April. Lisa has, however, assured me that my wait will not be in vain, as book #3 will have more than enough sizzle to satisfy any Team Tam girl's needs. To be fair, she said the same will be true for Team Mychael girls, but that's neither here nor there... Armed & Magical   begins immediately after the first book ends. Raine and Co. are on the Island of Mid, restlessly holed up in the finest suite the Conclave and its Guardians have to offer. The paladin has assured Raine that someone within the magical university hierarchy will be able to help rid her of her increasingly uncomfortable link to the Saghred--the ancient, malevolent stone intent on sucking her soul dry. U

On this Christmas night I hope that your hearts were full of love and your stockings full of books. Thank you all for making my days merry and bright.

I believe I first heard about  Magic Lost, Trouble Found  through Tia's review  over at  Fantasy Debut . In it Tia referred to  Lisa Shearin  as "the Janet Evanovich of fantasy," and, well, who doesn't want to get a piece of that action? Seriously, I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to doing just that. This series seems to be most often described as regular fantasy with a decidedly urban fantasy heroine, complete with charming (at times self deprecating) sense of humor. I would agree with this assessment. Raine's internal dialogue is very much in keeping with urban fantasy trends. She'll be the first one to tell you, she's one part disreputable imp, two parts defender of all that is good. And she can handle anything that comes her way. And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinousness comes her way and she handles it with aplomb (and the aforementioned sense of humor). Raine Benares is a seeker, finder of lost things and/or peo

Maggie Stiefvater,  author of the most awesome  Lament , has a whole series of these hilarious Harry Potter images (along with a nice discussion of character and personalty development) up on her blog . Go check them out for a few Monday Giggles.

I do like these covers. The rich, sometimes earthy tones aptly reflect the individual themes of the books, in my opinion. Plus the style of artwork keeps the characters sort of dreamy and vague and I am therefore free to go on picturing them however I please and that is always a good thing.  In the Coils of the Snake  continues the story of the goblin court and its longtime enemies the "we're one step ahead of extinction" elves. This third and final volume in the Hollow Kingdom trilogy takes place thirty years after  Close Kin  and begins with the unthinkable.  Marak is dead. *sob* And as if that isn't enough, we find out that all these years he has been secretly grooming a young human girl to be his son Catspaw's bride when he passes the crown to him. The girl, Miranda, is now living in the hollow hill with them and is utterly bereft now that her one friend (and father-figure) is gone and she is expected to take up the mantle of queen to a young and inexperienced

Patricia Briggs has the first chapter of Bone Crossed up on her site. You know you can't resist.  Charlaine Harris has the first chapter of Dead and Gone up on her site. Word is the weres come out to play in this one.  And Word Wenches has an interview with Sharon Shinn up on their site. In it she mentions toying with the idea of writing a novella about Kirra and Donnal as well as possibly following the next generation in the Twelve Houses world.  One word: yay!

Close Kin   is the second book in  Clare B. Dunkle 's Hollow Kingdom trilogy. It takes place around five years after  The Hollow Kingdom   and follows Kate's younger sister Emily. Or at least it seems to. Where  The Hollow Kingdom   stuck pretty closely to Kate's story,  Close Kin   jumps around a fair bit, splitting its time three different ways as it traces the paths of Emily, her friend and would-be suitor Seylin, and an extremely unhappy elf named Sable.  When Emily fails to take Seylin's romantic advances seriously, half goblin/half elf Seylin informs the Goblin King he is leaving to search out his other heritage and see if he can find any elves who managed to survive the last goblin harrowing. He does, in fact, come across a rather feral group of elves but, having suffered much in the name of mere survival, they are barely recognizable as the beautiful, carefree creatures Seylin dreamt of. Among this group is a young woman named Sable who, to avoid being forced in

...Sigh.