Angieville

Let's just lay our cards on the table, shall we, and agree that, on the whole, 2016 was an abysmal year. And I'd just like to personally invite it not to let the door hit it on the way out. This is me being as charitable as I can possibly be at this point.  That said, I want to send a glorious shout out to the wonderful books that have come out this past year, and to all the authors (and readers) who have not given in to the anxiety, depression, anger, and fear that I know so many of us have felt throughout the past twelve months (or more). It is the last day of the year, and I have poured all of my gratitude (and hope for a better one to come) into my annual list of my favorite reads of the year. Just 17 this year. Fewer than the past few years, which indicates a healthy dose of necessary rereading in this year that has been what it was, as well as the fact that I just didn't get to as many new releases. Photo by  @aamith (in the order in which I read them)...

If you know me at all, you know that Crooked Kingdom was right behind The Raven King for my most anticipated book of the year. And I had to wait all the way to the end of September to get it. I suffer, guys. I suffer. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely . Am I utterly desolate that it's over? Oh my word, yes . Has it taken me awhile to process my emotions and be able to write about them somewhat coherently? Why yes, yes it has. Thanks for asking. A duology is a rare and beautiful thing. It is also a perilous thing. For there's no coming back from that second book, no third book to potentially wrap things up just right. All your money on that one book to make it well. In this case, it ended so perfectly I could only sit there in amazement at how right it was. For everyone. Which is not to say that things were not sacrificed (they were) and that it did not hurt (it did). But it was right. And so very full. Be warned. Beyond this point there be potential spoilers for Six of Cr...

I don't know about you, but I needed something excellent to lift my spirits. A huge thanks to St. Martin's and Buzzfeed for giving us the upcoming paperback cover of Rainbow Rowell's Carry On . The cover art is by none other than the incredible Kevin Wada . I mean, I purchased two copies of Leigh Bardugo's Crooked Kingdom  just so I could get the one with his gorgeous illustrations inside the jacket. He captured Kaz and the gang so perfectly, I had to have them. And I think he's captured Simon and Baz so well here. Due out May 9th, it will make the perfect lender copy. I'm thinking it's time for a reread . . . "You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can't carry on at all."

It's funny, the timing of books. It's so funny. I've been sitting on Winter for around about a year now. And it's been well over two since I reviewed Cress . You'll remember, I was not what you might call a "fan" of that book, which partly explains why I waited so dashed long to start Winter . It's just that I was such a genuine fan of the first two books. Scarlet is perfect, in my opinion. And as I was most displeased with Wolf and Scarlet's treatment in Cress (to say nothing of the, shall we call it "phoning in" of Cress and Thorne's characters), well. I had issues, guys. I had issues. But something continued to niggle in the back of my mind that Winter would be different. A return to form, possibly. A casting out of new lines, so to speak. Whatever it was, the Winter kairos all came together for me a week ago, and I basically whipped my way through the fourth installment in the Lunar Chronicles. Ahem. Spoilers for the first ...