Is It Weird That I'm Fascinated With the World Ending?

So...I have a semi-secret obsession with the apocalypse!
I'm totally stoked to see 2012 and I loved movies like I am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow. I am obsessed with the TV show Supernatural, too.


Is it any wonder that I have been devouring books in the dystopia genre lately?
For example, here's the list of dystopia (post-apocalyptic) books that I've read in the last year or so:

1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Feed by M. T. Anderson (reread)
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Gone by Michael Grant
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Declaration by Gemma Malley
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Sky Inside by Clare Dunkle
Unwind by Neal Shusterman



Whew...these are all I could think of right now, though I'm sure there are more, AND that's not counting the ones I've read before this past year. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to contemplate what would happen if the world was coming to an end! Would you survive?

Top 5 Favorite Books...at the moment, that is!

Okay, so far my top 5 favorite books are:

1. The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

3. Poison Study - Maria Snyder


4. Finger-Lickin' Fifteen - Janet Evanovich


5. Kindred in Death - J.D. Robb

Fade Out

Fade Out
The Morganville Vampires: Book 7
By Rachel Caine

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected.

This was a really fun and quick book to read. I love this series! Claire is really developing as a character...growing into her own. I like how Caine manages to make her relationship with Shane very realistic. She's too young to really move in with him and have that intense a relationship, but she feels the same hormonal urges that all teens do and obviously deeply cares for him. The relationships that she is developing with the vampires, especially Myrnin, Oliver and Amelie, are really complex and it's refreshing to see that Caine can make all of her characters flawed, and yet still "lovable," so to speak. I don't want to say anymore for fear that I will spoil the book for other potential readers. Let me just say this book had some good twists and I really enjoyed it!

As usual, I devouring this new book in the series in about 3 hours. I wish they came out more frequently...I know, I know, we all wish that whenever we like a series! There is nothing worse than having to wait an inordinately long time for the next great book.

Happy Turkey Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Turkey Day! Gobble, gobble, gobble....
I am currently lounging on the comfy chair in my living room, while my husband is lying on the couch watching football, and the dogs are playing on the floor. Very domesticated. I am very glad that I didn't cook, so I don't have any dishes to wash! :P
Well...on to my Black Friday strategizing, then I'm going to read some more of Fade Out by Rachel Caine, then early to bed. My plan is to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to elbow my way into a couple of good deals. Good luck to anyone else doing the same and keep your fingers crossed that I come back alive!!

Elphame's Choice

Elphame's Choice
by P.C. Cast

I was marked from birth as belonging to the Goddess Epona--but that didn't make my life easy. Because of my "blessings," I was set apart, worshipped, unable to make real connections with others. Then came the Feeling, and with it a glimpse of my destiny. It led me to the MacCallen castle of legend, deserted since the terrible Fomorian war.

I followed the wordless call to breathe new life into a place long dead, but I didn't realize there were dark remnants of the war lingering in the nearby forest--victims and survivors who remained hidden. Others marked as different, powerful. Feared.

My choice was now twofold. I could keep to the happiness and safety of my newfound home, or I could choose a path that led to something more terrible, more dangerous, more thrilling than anything I'd ever expected.

In that future I might never be alone again. . .

I was excited to read this book because I am a huge fantasy/sci-fi person and I love the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. I have to admit that I did not read the Divine by trilogy which is also set in Partholon and I think comes before this book. I plan to go back and read those now and then go on to read the next book in this series, Brighid's Quest.
This was definitely a good book, though P.C.'s tone is very different here than in HON. I think that people who read HON will have to mentally adjust to this series, but that's okay! I liked Elphame and her brother's characters very much. I thought that Cast did a great job explaining why there were these Formorians (the "bad guys") that brought out the forbidden love option for Elphame. Interesting. Not my favorite book of all time, but good.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
by Beth Fantaskey

The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

I had heard mixed reviews of this book, so I was a little apprehensive when I finally broke down and decided to read it. Two of the other YA Librarians I know had loved it, though, which is why I finally did decide to read it.
I'm glad I did because it was a really fun book. Besides the fact that I got to carry around a book that had my name in a funny title, I liked the way that Jessica (Antanasia, Romanian vampire princess!) learns to value herself as she is and helps Lucius to overcome the darker side of his inner nature.
A fun vampire romance in a genre that is currently overrun!!

Welcome to I Read to Relax!

Okay, after years of following other readers' blogs, I decided to try my own. Not only to get out there what I'm reading and to connect with other readers, but also to help me track what I'm reading! As the title states, I read to relax! Sometimes, I read "classics" or books that I'm reviewing for SLJ that I normally wouldn't choose for myself, but mostly these entries will be about the books that I've chosen to read in my spare time. That's going to mean a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal romance, historical romance, murder mysteries...and it will mostly be YA! If that's not your cup of tea, no problem. If it is, feel free to comment!