Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Series that I'd Like to Start

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.

There is just never enough time in the day to fit as much reading in as I would like to and I know I'm not alone in this feeling.  Whether you're a student who would rather be reading what's on your bookshelf as opposed to what you're assigned in class, or someone who works that would rather spend their time curled up with a book of their choosing instead of reading technical documents at the office or counting the clock until you can go home.  No matter the situation, there will always be books and series that I don't get around to reading because when push comes to shove something will always be left out.  So here are just a few of the series that I've been wanting to start that I haven't been able to get around to just yet.

Series I'd Like To Start #1:  The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1) by Julie Kagawa

"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.

After enjoying her Iron Fey series so much I'd love to give Kagawa's work another go.  I'm excited to see if she can pull off a great series around vampires like she did around the Fae.

Series I'd Like To Start #2:  Legacy (Legacy, #1) by Molly Cochran

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.

After coming across this title thanks to a great recommendation from a good friend I knew it was a series I wanted to read.  Why it took me so long to find I don't know, but now that I have I don't plan on wasting anymore time.  I'm ready to dive right into this unique and creative world that Cochran has created.

Series I'd Like To Start #3:  Infinity (Chronicles of Nick, #1) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he's next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

I've been a huge fan of Kenyon's adult series for longer than I can remember and when I first heard about her branching out into YA literature I was over the moon.  But anyone that is familiar with Kenyon's work knows that she's got so many books out there already that I always opted to continue her long standing series instead of starting this new one.  I'm hoping to work it out so that there is time for both, fingers crossed because I'm sure to fall in love with this series as much as I have with her others.

Series I'd Like To Start #4:  Gone (Gone, #1) by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents--unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers--that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Looking back I think I shied away from this series because to me it falls into the dystopian genre and at the time I came across this series I wasn't interested.  Now that I know how wonderful this genre can be I'm all about revisiting this series to see if it falls into my new favorite genre.

Series I'd Like To Start #5:  Unwind (Unwind, #1) by Neal Shusterman

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

A friend of mine recommended this series to me and I hate to admit it but I passed on it due to that very fact.  She's one of my very good friends, but when it comes to books, she seems to love what I suggest she read, but the few previous suggestions she passed my way fell kind of flat for me.  There are just too many great books out there to settle.  But I don't want to hold my opinion against this series, and I've heard some good things so maybe I'll revisit this one in the future.

Series I'd Like To Start #6:  Intertwined (Intertwined, #1) by Gena Showalter

There’s something about the new guy at Crossroads High…

Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:

One can time travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can possess another human.
One can tell the future.

Everyone thinks he’s crazy, which is why he’s spent his entire life shuffled between mental institutions and juvie. All of that is about to change, however. For months Aden has been having visions of a beautiful girl—a girl who carries centuries-old secrets. A girl who will either save him or destroy him.

Together they’ll enter a dark world of intrigue and danger... but not everyone will come out alive.

Again another author who's adult titles I've really enjoyed but have yet to check out her YA literature.  A mistake that I'll have to correct soon...if only I could get through my TBR list just a little bit faster....ugh!

Series I'd Like To Start #7:  The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, #1) by Bree Despain

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

How could you not want to read this series with cover art like these babies are sporting?  I'm not sure if it's the colors of the clothing or the way it flows, who knows?  All I know is that I'm sad all over again that I haven't gotten a chance to read this series yet and I think that's about to change.

Series I'd Like To Start #8:  My Soul To Take (Soul Screamers, #1) by Rachel Vincent

She doesn't see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

Oh boy, yep this countdown has officially depressed me, because I'm now reminded of all these great titles that I've fallen so far behind on and want nothing more than to catch up quickly.  I love the sound of this one and can only hope that I can find time to squeeze this series in to find out what happens for Kaylee and what kind of connection she has to Nash....will there be some romance?  I hope so.

Series I'd Like To Start #9:  Wondrous Strange (Wondrous Strange, #1) by Leslie Livingston

17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye.

A series and author who have made quite the name for themselves.  I can't help but get excited over a series like this one when every review you read gives it nothing but glowing praise and it's impossible not to want to be in on the secret.  The secret of what made this series so wonderful and praise worthy.  Hopefully I can find out sooner rather than later.

Series I'd Like To Start #10:  Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1) by Lilith St. Crow

In Strange Angels, Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.) Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

I hate to admit it but while I love a strong and independent, go-it alone kind of female lead, I also have always been a fan of the male characters that can't help themselves when it comes to a girl they care about.  If that means they go out of their way to try to be brave and protective so they can feel like they're doing their part in keeping the girl they care for safe, I say go for it.  This sounds like the type of book that has both, and I'd like to see how that ends up playing out.

Book Covers and Dresses

I hope everyone's having a great weekend so far...I know for most people Saturday is their favorite day of the week for obvious reasons, but for me, it's a personal favorite because I usually become most productive on Saturdays and enjoy my relaxing reading and TV/movie watching on Sundays. So I try my best to get as much accomplished as I can on Saturdays (after I've slept in of course) and today is no different. Today I'm on bridesmaid duty. I've got two bridesmaids dresses that I'll be wearing in weddings this summer and they need alterations. So today is the day that I use my time wisely and take myself and those dresses to the seamstress to get the ball rolling. While I was attempting to get myself organized I started to think about how many beautiful YA covers there are out in the book universe that feature gorgeous dresses that make me and I'm sure a lot of other girls drool when we lay eyes on them.

Here are a few of my favorites...which are yours?

Entwined by Heather Dixon (03/29/2011)

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her...beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing...it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

The Vespertine (The Vespertine, #1) by Saundra Mitchell (03/07/2011)

It's the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset - visions that offer glimpses of the future.

Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore.

This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own - still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos.

And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

Forgiven by Janet Fox (06/02/2011)

Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco, alone but for a letter of introduction. Though she has come to the city to save her father from a cruel fate, Kula soon finds herself swept up in a world of art and elegance - a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana, where she was no more than the daughter of an outlaw.

And then there is the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula's carefully crafted reserve.

Yet when disaster strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.

My Soul To Keep (Soul Screamers, #3) by Rachel Vincent (06/01/2010)

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind.

The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends - one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else...