Top Ten Tuesday: New (To Me) Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they're particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish (and who isn't?). They're all about creating new lists including a little bit of everything and I've been meaning to participate for so long but always seemed to get behind. So here we are and hopefully you'll head over to their page and check out what everyone else put up for this week's Top Ten.

2013 was a great year for discovering new titles and the authors that brought these books to life.  I was able to add quite a few debut authors to my list of favorites, which is always fantastic, and received a few recommendations as far as reading and authors went, that were also beneficial to expanding my library.  Here are a few of the new authors I came across this year and the books they wrote and fell in love with.

New Author #1:  Kasie West - Pivot Point

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

 

New Author #2:  Molly Cochran - Legacy

 

When her widowed father dumps 16-year-old Katy Jessevar in a boarding school in Whitfield, Massachusetts, she has no idea that fate has just opened the door to both her future and her past. Nearly everyone in Whitfield is a witch, as is Katy herself, although she has struggled all her life to hide her unusual talents. Stuck at a boarding school where her fellow students seem to despise her, Katy soon discovers that Whitfield is the place where her mother committed suicide under mysterious circumstances when Katy was just a small child. With dark forces converging on Whitfield, it's up to Katy to unravel her family's many secrets to save the boy she loves and the town itself from destruction.

New Author #3:  Shelly Crane - Significance

 

Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but then her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating - barely - and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has.
Then she saves the life of Caleb and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally.
They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive.
Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him.

Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

 

New Author #4:  Jennifer E. Smith - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

 

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

New Author #5:  Gayle Forman - If I Stay

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

New Author #6:  Kelly Fiore - Taste Test

 

If you can grill it, smoke it, or fry it, Nora Henderson knows all about it. She’s been basting baby back ribs and pulling pork at her father’s barbeque joint since she was tall enough to reach the counter. When she’s accepted to Taste Test, a reality-television teen cooking competition, Nora can’t wait to leave her humble hometown behind, even if it means saying good-bye to her dad and her best friend, Billy. Once she’s on set, run-ins with her high-society roommate and the maddeningly handsome—not to mention talented—son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, mean Nora must work even harder to prove herself. But as mysterious accidents plague the kitchen arena, protecting her heart from one annoyingly charming fellow contestant in particular becomes the least of her concerns. Someone is conducting real-life eliminations, and if Nora doesn’t figure out who, she could be next to get chopped for good.

With romance and intrigue as delectable as the winning recipes included in the story, this debut novel will be devoured by all.

 

New Author #7:  Jennifer Close - Girls in White Dresses

 

Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love—all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.

Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with: Isabella is working at a mailing-list company, dizzy with the mixed signals of a boss who claims she’s on a diet but has Isabella file all morning if she forgets to bring her a chocolate muffin. Mary thinks she might cry with happiness when she finally meets a nice guy who loves his mother, only to realize he’ll never love Mary quite as much. And Lauren, a waitress at a Midtown bar, swears up and down she won’t fall for the sleazy bartender—a promise that his dirty blond curls and perfect vodka sodas make hard to keep.

With a wry sense of humor, Jennifer Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. These are the years when everyone else seems to have a plan, a great job, and an appropriate boyfriend, while Isabella has a blind date with a gay man, Mary has a crush on her boss, and Lauren has a goldfish named Willard. Through boozy family holidays and disastrous ski vacations, relationships lost to politics and relationships found in pet stores, Girls in White Dresses pulls us deep inside the circle of these friends, perfectly capturing the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.

 

New Author #8:  Cori McCarthy - The Color of Rain

 

If there is one thing that seventeen-year-old Rain knows and knows well, it is survival. Caring for her little brother, Walker, who is "Touched," and losing the rest of her family to the same disease, Rain has long had to fend for herself on the bleak, dangerous streets of Earth City. When she looks to the stars, Rain sees escape and the only possible cure for Walker. And when a darkly handsome and mysterious captain named Johnny offers her passage to the Edge, Rain immediately boards his spaceship. Her only price: her "willingness."

The Void cloaks many secrets, and Rain quickly discovers that Johnny's ship serves as host for an underground slave trade for the Touched . . . and a prostitution ring for Johnny's girls. With hair as red as the bracelet that indicates her status on the ship, the feeling of being a marked target is not helpful in Rain's quest to escape. Even worse, Rain is unsure if she will be able to pay the costs of love, family, hope, and self-preservation.

With intergalactic twists and turns, Cori McCarthy's debut space thriller exists in an orbit of its own.

New Author #9:  Jennifer L. Armentrout - Obsidian

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

 

New Author #10:  Kristin Bailey - Legacy of the Clockwork Key

 

When a fire consumes Meg’s home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key—a key that only Meg can use—that unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg is compelled to follow.

Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg is swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge, uncovering evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous invention that some will stop at nothing to protect.

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

I was on the hunt for a great summer read.  I'd come across this title several times, and had already added it to my TBR list a while back but for some reason another read always bumped it down on the list.  Looking back now, I can't believe I denied myself the chance to read Smith's work until now.  I could not have found myself a better read for these hot summer months we're having.  It was light, fun, filled with a lot going on, but yet never enough.  Smith's main characters were everything I wanted and so much more.  The scenes she painted were detailed and full of life, and had me wanting to get myself to the closest airport, and eventually the beautiful city of London.  As if I didn't already want to make my way over to that historic city, Smith had me itching to buy my ticket across the pond that much more!

 

I'm not sure how to describe my thoughts when it comes to this read, but I can say that everything Hadley and Oliver went through and every way they handled situations was a joy to experience.  I loved their fast paced conversations that seemed to come so natural to them as they flowed across the pages.  Their personalities were infectious and truly the whole thing was just adorable from start to finish.

 

When Summer rolls around, it's hard for me to tackle books that are as thick as tomes and contain material that brings nothing but suspense and anxiety.  I like fun adventures, and light material while I'm trying to avoid the heat waves we experience.  Smith delivered all of that and more.  I know some reviewers have critiqued the lack of an epilogue and the way Smith decided to wrap things up, but if you ask me she did it just right.  She knew her characters better than anyone and I think she nailed it!

In My Mailbox (102)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week?

For Review:

 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

 

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Just One Day (Just One Day, #1) by Gayle Forman

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.






Slide (Slide, #1) by Jill Hathaway

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth--her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she's been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

Dark Promise (Between Worlds, #1) by Julia Crane & Talia Jager

Rylie has it all - great friends, dream boy, loving family. But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, her perfect little world shatters. A stranger claiming to be her real mother appears with a secret: Rylie is a faery whose powers will be unleashed on her birthday. Captured and forced into a new life, Rylie struggles to keep everything she loves and discovers a terrifying truth: some promises cannot be broken.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Countdown: April 2013 (2)

The saying might be that April showers bring May flowers, but apparently it also brings a heck of a lot of good books.  You guys are very familiar with my love of countdowns here on the blog and there's no way that's going to change anytime soon, certainly not in 2013!  So now that the new year is here, my excitement level for 2013 new releases has gone through the roof.  I've got my January list, and I'm trying to stick to my plan.  I'll keep reading at lease one or two of the books that are already on my shelf that haven't been read yet before I purchase a new book.  So two older ones for everyone new one I buy is the way this game is played.  So far so good!  If you guys don't see a book you're looking forward to on one of my countdowns you know what to do...post a comment, send me an email, you name it, it works as long as you don't hold back and keep the great future releases a secret!  Let us know, I'm always on the lookout for a few more titles to add to my TBR list!

Countdown Pick #1:  Beautiful Decay by Sylvia Lewis (04/02/2013)

Ellie Miller has always needed her space. Literally. With a touch that rots whatever she encounters, Ellie must keep people at a distance for their own good. Not that her classmates are itching to be best friends with the "freak" of the high school.

So when newcomer Nate MacPherson makes it his mission to get close to her, Ellie has her suspicions. But when he identifies her as a viviomancer who can work the forces of life and reveals himself to be a necromancer who can manipulate death, Ellie finds herself trusting Nate and the romance that is blossoming between them. Unfortunately for the two, family secrets can kill, and they will need more than their abilities to keep a zombie mom and a conglomerate of evil-doing supernaturals under control.

After spending her life pushing everyone away, Ellie's realization of the full extent of her power and willingness to let people get close to her may be the only way to save the ones she loves.

I'm digging the sound of this one.  Different from a lot of the same old same old, and with a romance added into the combination of everything going on, this one sailed to the top of my countdowns in April without a problem.

Countdown Pick #2:  Nameless (Tales of Beauty and Madness, #1) by Lili St. Crow (04/04/2013)

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world and populated by unforgettable new characters.

I just got myself an advanced copy of this one in the mail and while I might not be counting down to when I can read it (since I'll be starting a.s.a.p.) I'm still including it in my countdown because I'm anxious for it to hit the shelves.  If it's as good as it sounds than I think I'll be making my way to the stores to get myself a finished copy.

Countdown Pick #3:  This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith (04/02/2013)

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? 

Ooh I like the sound of this one.  I have to admit that while I'm sure a lot of the celebrities out there are just regular people like you and me who just happen to have jobs that put them in the spotlight and make them out to be this different version of normal or falling into a different status due to their careers, I can't help but feed into that in my own way.  I read the gossip magazines and watch the interviews that participate in on TV, and when I happen to come across one in places like L.A. or NYC I can't help but drop my jaw and bug out my eyes.  So the idea of a character playing this sort of role trying to date someone "normal" sounds like an interesting plot and one that could be highly entertaining.

Countdown Pick #4:  The Rules (Project Paper Dolls, #1) by Stacey Kade (04/23/2013)

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

Oh please let this be one of those stories where the characters get a case of the "I know I shouldn't, but I can't help my feelings" type of deal!  I'm all about a little unrequited love and hopefully I'll get my wish.  If it turns into a story where the main character draws the attention of a "bad guy" then I'll be sorely disappointed that there won't be any romantic attachments but I'm sure it'll prove to be a tense and anxiety ridden ride.

Countdown Pick #5:  Spellbinding by Maya Gold (04/01/2013)

There's more than one way to be powerful . . .

It is during a routine school project that Abby Silva--sixteen and nearly friendless--makes a startling discovery: She is descended from women who were accused of witchcraft back in 1600s Salem. And when Abby visits nearby Salem, strange, inexplicable events start to unfold. Objects move when she wills them to. Candles burst into sudden flame. And an ancient spell book somehow winds up in her possession.

Trying to harness her new found power, Abby concocts a love potion to win over her longtime crush--and exact revenge upon his cruel, bullying girlfriend. But old magic is not to be trifled with. Soon, Abby is thrust headlong into a world of hexes, secrets, and danger. And then there's Rem Anders, the beautiful, mysterious Salem boy who seems to know more about Abby than he first lets on.

A reckoning is coming, and Abby will have to make sense of her history--and her heart--before she can face the powerful truth.

Oh lord!  Will these fictional characters never learn!  Love potions are bad...duh!  Oh well, Abby might not know what she's getting herself into, but I can't deny that it'll probably be super entertaining watching this girlfriend who thinks bullying is the way to go...that I'm looking forward to.  How this mystery guy Rem fits into things we'll just have to wait and find out come April.

Countdown: 2012 Releases (4)

You guys know the drill by now...I'm always on the lookout for new finds and exciting new reads and below are just a few that I've come across this week. With how busy everyone gets if I don't write the titles down immediately I'll never be able to remember them later when I'm ready to download a new book to my kindle, or pick one up in the store wondering which shelf to look through first. So by posting these countdowns I give myself one more place to look when I need to be reminded of the titles I've been looking forward to.

And as always if you guys hear of any that you haven't seen me post let me know. Like I said, I only have so much time to search for future reads on my own, and to be honest, the majority of my favorite titles I owe to friends/bloggers/author recommendations. So leave a comment, shoot me an email, etc...if there are any books or authors you think I should have on my radar.

Countdown Pick #1: City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, #5) by Cassandra Clare ( 5/8/2012)

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series continues - and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon. Can the lost be reclaimed? What price is too high to pay for love? Who can be trusted when sin and salvation collide? Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

I just adore Clare's writing and her Mortal Instruments series had me hooked right from the beginning of book one, and four books later, she's got me counting down and craving book five, just so I can find out what happens next to Clary and the rest of the shadowhunter gang.

I'm still not sure how she does or how she manages to continuously come up with new plot lines and twists that leave readers reeling, but regardless I'm grateful. She's one of those authors that has the gift of an addicting voice, writing that flows so fluidly that you don't even realizing your reading a book, rather you feel like you've been transported into the pages of her world and are interacting with the characters themselves.

Countdown Pick #2: The Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices, #3) by Cassandra Clare (11/1/2012)
In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it's too late. As Jem's health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves - even if it means never seeing the other one again?

Sticking with the Cassandra Clare bandwagon on this one, if you're a fan of her Mortal Instruments series, than I'm sure if you've discovered her Infernal Devices series, the same can be said. It's impossible to stay clear of Clare's writing once you've gotten a taste. I was skeptical as to whether her Infernal Devices series could stand up to the clearly awesome Mortal Instruments series, but it does just that. And to be honest, as much as I love Clary, Jace and Simon, along with everyone else in her other series, there's something about this series that trumped it for me. When I figure out what that something is, I'll be sure to spread the word, but in the meantime, I just want Clare to continue to churn these masterpieces out as quickly as she can manage, because I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to get enough.

Countdown Pick #3: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (1/10/2012)

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs...for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumors tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Now if there's anyone out there reading this synopsis and isn't already feeling protective about Hazel, I'm not sure how you did it. One read through of this description and I was invested. I've yet to read anything of John Green's but everyone I talk to seems to say the same thing; he's a genius! His writing seems to speak to people on a level unlike what we're all used to or have come to expect. This story might not be a laugh out loud kind of read, but if you can prepare yourself for an emotional and probably difficult to get through kind of read, than to be honest this one sounds like it would be well worth it. No need to countdown on this find since it came out earlier this month, but I couldn't resist adding it to the list so that I'd be able to remind myself not to let this one slip through the cracks.

Countdown Pick #4: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer (1/3/2012)

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl...

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother, and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one originally. I had gotten wind of it a while back but moved on quickly for what reason I don't know. I've always been a fan a remakes and retellings, but it might be because while I enjoyed Cinderella as a kid, it was never my absolute favorite fairy tale. So I didn't give this take a fair chance. So when I came across the title again this week on several blogs and was hearing positive feedback, I figured I should probably look into it one more time. Now that I've got a more open frame of mind, I think this one sounds kind of cool. Retellings can always go in any number of directions, but I really think this spin that Meyer's is working with sounds more unique than most. So if you've had the chance to get into this one, let me know what you thought, and in the meantime, I think it's about time I got myself a copy of my own.

Countdown Pick #5: The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (1/2/2012)

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything? Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second changes and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

I'm already picturing major romance here and the excitement is building. How could I have missed this one? I'm not familiar with the author, but I will be soon. This read sounds like one of those stories that no matter what happens with the main characters, you can't help but walk away feeling a little bit more optimistic than when you first started. Sounds crazy right? Regardless of what transpires between Hadley and Oliver, just as the synopsis says, just the idea of true love find everyone when they're not expecting it, possibly not even believing in it, well how can anyone not think that sounds like a winner? So it's been added to the list, and I think I might just need to turn my kindle on a.s.a.p. and have this one beamed over to me right away, because who doesn't need an excuse to feel a little bit more optimistic on a daily basis?