Tag: Sons of Destiny series

SABBATICAL - Must Read Series, Part II

SABBATICAL – Must Read Series, Part II

Posted on by Jaymie

I am on a “sabbatical” from my blog this month, so I am sharing some posts that compile information my readers might find useful.

Last week I posted what I consider my “Must Read” series that are still growing. These might be books I buy or books I get at the library, but either way, I am NOT missing a book in these series.

This week I am focusing on some completed series that were must-reads when they released. Some of these I will re-read because I know I am going to love them.

 

Completed Series

Crown of Shards series – Kill the Queen, Protect the Prince, Crush the King. I discovered the first book in this trilogy in my quest to find something I love like the Kitty Katt-Martini/Touched by an Alien series, and these are right up there. This series is fantasy rather than science fiction, but the main character is exactly what I am always looking for, and the stories are ones I happily re-read when I need a little comfort reading of something I know is amazing.
Consortium Rebellion series – This science fiction series kicks off with Polaris Rising, my favorite book in the series. This trilogy is the closest I have come to finding a series like the Touched By an Alien/Kitty Katt-Martini series which is my all-time favorite.
Sons of Destiny series – This 8-book fantasy/romance series kicks off with The Sword. I remember when I first discovered this series. I would stalk my local bookstore looking for the rest of the books. I *needed* to have them all. This is another series I will re-read, although not as often as I do with Kitty. I loved the hook of 8 brothers looking to overcome a family curse and find love (The even numbered books are my favorites). The magic of the world is outstanding.
Reluctant Royals series – This romance series (three full-length books with some e-book novellas) completely captivated me. I haven’t re-read them, but I would in a heartbeat. The first book in the series is A Princess in Theory.
Bookish Boyfriends series – This YA series kicks off with Bookish Boyfriends/A Date with Darcy and is 4 books long, and each one is a delight.  Lovely romance with a touch of magic and ties to literature. I wish there were going to be more of these!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2019 Favorites

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2019 Favorites

Posted on by Jaymie

I read a lot of books every year.  I like to keep track of what I read every year and see how it stacks up to years before. Here are some of my reading statistics for 2019.

2019 Stats

Through the course of 2019 I read 400 books.  There were 75 more that I started but did not finish. My stated goal for the year was 300, but I was hoping to get to 365 – and I did! I’m a little behind last year’s record-setting pace (418 books read), but I am okay with where I landed. I’m pretty proud of all the reading I did this year, and even more proud of walking away from books that weren’t working for me.

Of those 400, the break down for target audience is

  • 43% adult (173 books)
  • 18% teen/young adult (70 books)
  • 19% middle grade (76 books)
  •  13% picture books (51 books)
  •   7% transitional chapter books and early readers (30 books)

And of those, 23 were graphic novels for various ages.

The main genre breakdown is

  • 31% Fantasy
  • 19% Realistic/Contemporary
  • 15% Romance
  • 13% Mystery
  • 10% Science Fiction
  • 4% Nonfiction (27 books – my goal was at least one per month)

This year most of the books I read were from the library (114 or 29%). I read 101 books from my To Be Read shelves (which are overflowing), including brand new books, as well as 106  advanced reader copies from publishers. I also re-read 39 favorites this year. Next year I want to prioritize my truly “TBR” books that have been on my shelves for awhile.

In 2019, I had a goal of reading 1-2 nonfiction books each month and I did. I also added a spreadsheet to my tracking process to see if I can better track authors and characters of color and other factors and I loved it. You can find the 2020 version of the Book Riot spreadsheet (which is customizable!) here.

In 2020, I plan to be intentional with nonfiction reading once again and make a concerted effort to get through more books on my TBR shelves. I am also participating in one book challenge.

2019 Favorites!!

At the end of the year, I love to pull the titles of all of my favorites and then compare them to come up with my favorites for the year. I might not remember every detail about them, but I remember how I felt about them. These are the books I recommend time and time again, the ones I re-read and long to re-read.

You can see my list of favorites from 2016 here and 2017 here. The list from 2018 is here.

When I went back through my list of the 400 books I read in 2019, I pulled the best of each month (something I track) for a total of 71 books in my top tier.  This year, because of some re-reads that made it into the list and the way the numbers fell, it was better to go with 12 than 10. So here they are – my 2019 favorites:

12. A Duke by Default – Book 2 in the Reluctant Royals series. You can read my summary of the series here. This book was my favorite of the series, and a favorite from 2019, because of the characters, especially Portia. I loved reading about her efforts to improve herself and work on her personality quirks.

 

 

11. Star Trek Discovery: The Way to the Stars – Sylvia Tilly is my favorite character on Star Trek Discovery, and this book just reinforced that love. This reads a bit like a YA coming-of-age-story to me, which is a feature, not a bug. I adored reading this, and I’m looking forward to reading it again in 2020. (The latest Discovery novel, Dead Endless, focuses on other characters, but that author does a terrific job with Tilly, too.)

 

 

10. Well Met –  A woman coming home to help her sister after an accident is roped into participating in the local Renaissance Faire. Her lighthearted take on the faire puts her in conflict with the man responsible for the volunteers who bears the weight of his family’s legacy. This was a delight from the first page! I already have book 2 on my wish list. This is one I will read again. (♥♥♥♥♥)

 

 

9. Deadly Little Scandals – Book 2 after the delightful Little White Lies. While I rated this a 4.5 and most of the books on this list were 5s, the intricate, twisty plotting of this was something I couldn’t forget. When I compared this to other books on the list, that masterful level of plotting helped this rise above other titles.

 

 

8. The Storm – This is book 6 in the Sons of Destiny series, a romance/fantasy series I re-read usually once every year. It’s unusual for a re-read to make my top favorites of the year, but there are two on the list this year. I’ve written about this book before because it focuses on my favorite of the 8 brothers in the series. I especially enjoyed my re-read this year. I felt like I picked up on nuances with the character that I hadn’t considered before, which is why this rose to the top of the stack when compared to some of the other books I read this year. The emotional depths of this particular book get me every time. (♥♥♥♥♥)

 

7. Prince in Disguise – The second re-read that made my top 12 this year is this delightful YA romance by Stephanie Kate Strohm. The first time I read it, I rated it a 5+++, which is my way of saying a book is among the best of the best. (You can see some other five-plus reviews here.)  In my re-reading, that rating held fast, which doesn’t always happen. I find this book to be a perfect “comfort read” when I need a book I know I am going to adore.

 

 

6. Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram – This is the only nonfiction book to make my favorites list this year. I didn’t read a ton of nonfiction in 2019, and what I did read, while mostly enjoyable, didn’t stick with me enough to rise to the top of the list. But I got so much out of this book, and I think about the things I learned when I read it. I have it in a stack of resources I want to read through again in order to glean some more of its wisdom. You can read about this book, and the other Enneagram books I read in 2019, here.

 

 

5. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill – 2019 was the year of romance and romantic comedies for me. And this was one of my favorites! In fact it’s another book on the list that received a 5+ rating. One of my favorite features of this book, in addition to the terrific story, is the smart, snappy writing. It begs to be read aloud. You can read my full review here.

 

 

4. The Boy Next Story – Book 2 in the Bookish Boyfriends series after A Date with Darcy. I adored the first book so much, I was afraid book 2 couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations, but it actually exceeded them. I knew back in April when I first read this that this book would end up on my 2019 favorites list.  This was another 5+ book for me and I can’t wait to see what comes next in this terrific YA series.  You can read my full review here.

 

 

3. 10 Blind Dates – This YA romance was hysterical, and I absolutely adored it.  The premise is fantastic and clever, and the execution was even better. This was the book I was telling everyone about this fall. Here’s my full review.

 

 

 

2. The Blacksmith Queen – A prophecy about a rising queen to replace the recently dead king angers his sons who want no part of anything that would force them to give up the throne. When it looks like the new queen will be her younger sister, a blacksmith gathers supporters to help her defend her family.

There was a tie for first place in my tally at the end of 2019. When I list the top book, I’ll tell you how it edged out this one for first place, but both are fantastic. This is a quirky book, and I cackled my way through it from the first page to the last. When I see this in the book store, it’s often shelved in romance, but I think it makes more sense in fantasy as that is the bigger plot line, at least in my opinion. It’s more violent (and gruesome) than I usually find in romance stories, and at times it was even more than I expected from a fantasy story. But I was hooked by the premise and drawn in by the humor and the characters. I can’t wait for book 2.

 

1. Polaris Rising – I read this awesome sci-fi/romance twice in 2019, and BOTH times it ended up on my best-of-the-month lists, which is why I gave this the top spot for 2019 after the tie with The Blacksmith Queen. I loved the characters in this and the world building. You can read my review here. Book 2, Aurora Blazing, was also great. And book 3, Chaos Reigning, can’t get into my hands soon enough!

 

 

 

Honorable Mention

None of the middle grade, mystery or picture books that I enjoyed this year made it to the top 12. But here are the top two in each category.

Middle Grade: Broken Strings AND Finding Orion

Picture Books: Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog AND Pluto Gets the Call (follow the link here for a description)

Mysteries: Murder Once Removed AND Restaurant Weeks Are Murder (follow the link here for a description)

 

What were YOUR favorite books in 2019?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Memorable Protagonists

Posted on by Jaymie

I’ve noticed that a make-or-break part of a book for me is the main character. While I enjoy tons of books, the truly special ones have characters that I adore. I read so much, I often don’t remember a lot of details about the books unless I re-read them a few times. But there are some characters that I remember immediately. I see the cover of the book, and instantly I think of these characters, and I want to dive into the book again. And when I think about these characters, there are often characteristics they have in common.

Here are a few of my favorite, most memorable protagonists:

The Protectors – I am a HUGE fan of smart, protective, and fierce characters who defend others. Kitty Katt-Martini in the Alien series by Gini Koch is the epitome of this sort of character. It’s why I am fanatic of the series that is already 16 books long – most of those book over 500 pages – and I re-read it at least once a year. In every book, Kitty puts herself between the evil megalomaniacs and the people she loves and the characters who need to be protected. Tess Kendrick from the Fixer series (book one was my favorite book of 2015 and book two was top of the list in 2016) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is about half Kitty’s age, but she is just as fierce. She has a delightfully strong personality and doesn’t care what other people think about her, but she follows her moral code, “fixing” the wrongs around her. Another teen protector is Adam Blake from Robin Roe’s A List of Cages. This was my favorite book from 2017. Adam is a more happy-go-lucky character than Kitty or Tess – he’s breezy and unconcerned for the most part, but when it comes to Julian, he is fiercely protective exactly when Julian needs him. Finally, Turtle the Seawing dragon is the star of Talons of Power in the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. He is fairly meek for a “protector,” but he pushes past his insecurity and fear to do what no one else can to protect his friends.

Graphic Novels for Kids - Phoebe and her Unicorn

The Funny Folks – Wedgie the Corgi is my favorite part of the Wedgie and Gizmo series by Suzanne Selfors. In my head he sounds like Doug from the Pixar movie Up. He’s a goofy, hilarious, earnest character who loves everyone and everything. He makes up fantastic names for other characters – he calls Gizmo the guinea pig “Furry Potato.” I love characters that make me laugh. The other protagonist who always makes me laugh is Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, the unicorn in the Phoebe and her Unicorn series by Dana Simpson. Early in the series it was her declaration of “UNICORN!” in fancy fonts to show why  she was awesome and should always win every argument that would crack me up. As the series has gone on, that stellar attitude is only part of what makes her funny. I love her character.

The Brooding and Mysterious Men – It’s always interesting to me to read a series about a set of brothers where each brother gets a book to explore their unique perspective and personality. One series I have read multiple times is the Sons of Destiny series. Yes, I know it’s hard to take that cover seriously. And the content of the book is just what you would expect based on that cover. But what I love most about the series is the fantasy world and the magic as well as the story arc that covers all eight books. Rydan Corvis, “The Storm,” is brother number six, and his story is my favorite. He is the dark and brooding brother that shuns the light and the company of the others. No one seems to understand him, so getting to read a story from his perspective is really enjoyable. (One note about the series – there are four sets of twin brothers and the books go in order from the oldest brother to the youngest. But books five and six, which includes Rydan’s story, take place concurrently. So you get 60% or so of the same story, but from different perspectives, which I found really clever). The other brooding character that captivated me is Gabriel Merrick from Brigid Kemmerer‘s Elementals series. This is another fantasy romance series geared more toward young adults. While I enjoyed reading the whole series, Gabriel’s story was my favorite. He has a fierce, fiery personality, and he is reluctant to let others in, so the only way to really get a read on him is to dig into his own story. (Note, one of the books in the series includes a character’s struggle with his sexuality.) Both of these characters have a dark and mysterious air about them, so breaking through that by learning their stories is really satisfying for me as a reader.

The Character Most Like Me – Meg Langslow is the smart, organized, diplomatic, and creative protagonist at the center of Donna Andrews mystery series. And she is a woman after my own heart. She is the only one of my favorite protagonists who seems most like me. I’d love to be protective like the first group, but that’s not really who I am. But I am Meg. She has her “notebook that tells me when to breathe” and I have my to do lists and planners and forms and calendars and organizational systems. I “get” Meg which makes reading her stories enjoyable!

So these are my most memorable protagonists. What sorts of characters do you enjoy?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Favorite Re-Reads

Posted on by Jaymie

I sometimes have a complicated relationship with books. For the longest time, I kept each book I read. Eventually this created a space issue. Then I decided to just keep the “special” ones. There were no criteria for this designation – just a gut feeling. I kept all of my mystery series for certain. And then books I enjoyed so much I thought I might re-read them. Since I enjoy a lot of books each year, this meant I was still keeping a lot.

Eventually, I realized there were so many books I wanted to read for the first time that it was unlikely I would actually re-read everything I kept. But there are some…

My comfort books. The ones I go back to because I love the story or the character. Books I associate with certain events or seasons of life. The ones that leave me feeling wistful when I see them and I know it’s been forever since I read them.  Books that make me want to drop everything and dive into them all over again. And every January I try to read through as many of them as I can. It’s like visiting with old friends. Here are some of my favorite re-reads.

1. Andrew Clements books – These are some of the first books for kids that I read and loved. Clements tells great school stories about kids and teachers you want to cheer for. Frindle and No Talking are my favorites, but most of his older books are re-reads for me!

 

 

 2. Wings of Fire series – I remember the year I was setting up my library’s book fair and saw this book. I was captivated by the description and read it right away. Then I told all of my students about it. This is a special series! The first five books deal with the war for Sand Wing (a dragon tribe) succession. The second series picks up with a new set of young dragons living in a post-war world. This series just launched book 9, with book 10 slated for this summer. There’s also a stand alone book that fills in some backstory as well as some short e-books. And I think the series gets better and better as each book releases. I’ve taken to re-reading the books in the second series (books 6+) in anticipation of each new book, and that helps me remember all the cool details that are going to matter when the next book comes out.

3. The Westing Game – I read this mystery as a kid and fell in love with the twists and turns. This is the sort of book that you finish and have to read again right away to see where you missed the clues to the solution. I’m thrilled to say this stands up to the test of time. My son read it and loved it, prompting me to read it again as an adult. It was just as awesome as I remembered. In fact, it has become a go-to re-read for my teenage son as well!

 

4. The Harry Potter Series – I can’t tell you how many times we have re-read or listened to these books at our house! Each of us has a physical set of the books. Then we also have all of the outstanding audio books read by the amazing Jim Dale. The antics of the kids and the fight for good to triumph over evil never gets old.

 

 

5. The Fixer series – I have raved about this series multiple times on this blog in the short time since it went live. Book two is even better than book one. The main character is feisty and sticks up for the underdog and I love her. I look forward to spending time with the characters in these books – sometimes more than once a year.

 

 

 6. The Amber Photograph – I have three books by Penelope Stokes that I re-read periodically (this one, The Amethyst Heart and The Blue Bottle Club), but this is my most consistent re-read of the three. This is my sick-day book. If I’m in bed and don’t care to watch a movie or anything else, I will pull this book out. It’s an emotional one about a young woman driving across the country in search of information about who she is and about another woman hiding from her past. God’s redemption weaves through the whole story. It’s outstanding.

 

7. Deadline – Amazing suspense/mystery with a strong salvation message! This is a long, intricate book that covers a lot of issues including abortion, woven around a mystery of why the main character’s two best friends are dead. I love the passages that show one of those friends exploring Heaven. Deadline is a fantastic and inspiring mystery that I love to read over and over.

 

 

8. Touched by an Alien series – This is a very different book from the last two. And I love these just as much. This is a science fiction/romance series that over time has evolved into a science fiction/romance/mystery/suspense series. In book one, Kitty Katt discovers there are aliens on earth and she helps them take down a major villain. Over the course of the series, Kitty and her friends have to puzzle out who the true villains are and take them down as well. With two books releasing each year, and 500+ pages in each, this series gives readers a LOT to enjoy. I have several volumes in this series that are my ultimate favorites, but I usually re-read the last few before a new release and then re-read my favorite passages (don’t tell – I dog-eared them in my books!) when I want to enjoy some of Kitty’s best moments. Unlike the last two books in my list, this series is not Christian. The world view is much more open and the romantic passages are quite detailed. They are easily skipped over for any reader who isn’t interested in that portion of the story.

9. The Sons of Destiny series – Eight brothers with magical powers are exiled on a remote island because there’s a prophecy that if the eldest beds a woman, disaster will ensue and other prophecies about the other brothers will start to come true. Each book in the series focuses on one of the brothers. Two of the books are told concurrently (a pretty cool idea) but the rest go in order over time so that by the last book, the last of the prophecies are coming to pass. I adore this fantasy series. I have my favorite books and others that are less so, but I love the world where these take place and the main characters are fascinating. This is another book with a secular perspective. The romantic scenes are spelled out in detail, but again are easily skipped past if you want to get back to the magic and the story.

10. The Katie Chandler series – The last of my re-reads list is another fantasy series. Katie lives in a contemporary New York City and discovers that wizards, fairies and other magical beings really exist. Katie, though, is an immune. She has no magic whatsoever, so not only can she not DO any magic, but she can see through the illusions that the magic community uses to stay hidden. This makes her an important asset to the magical community when less-than-ethical forces try to take control. I just started reading through these again and I was thrilled to discover an 8th book came out at the end of 2016! So not only do I get to enjoy re-reading a favorite series, but I get a new installment at the same time!

 

So, those are my favorite re-reads. Do you have any books that you go back to time and time again?