My Must Reads for 2012!!!

Happy New Year friends!!! 

I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend and are off to a fresh start :) 

I have to be honest, I am a bit behind on what is being released in 2012... so I am challenging myself to read 52 books this year!!! One per week ;)
I've got to start adding more books to my 'To Be Read' list,
here are a few that I cannot wait to get my hands on this year...

1. Bitterblue (The Seven Kingdoms Series #3) 

by Kristin Cashore 

Release date is 5/1/2012

The first in this series, Graceling, was amazing! It is like no other story that I have read before! I usually have a hard time following new worlds, lands and other types of beings - but the writing was so captivating! I couldn't help myself from falling into their world... 

Bitterblue, a child, was introduced in Graceling - 

her story was barely touched upon and I cannot wait to see what has happened to her... I highly recommend starting the series from the beginning, just so you have a background as to who is what, etc...

A Graceling a person born with a rare skill.

The second book in the series is called, Fire. 

From Goodreads: 

"Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart."

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2. The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa 

(The Iron King, Winter's Passage, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, 

Summer's Crossing and The Iron Knight) 

 I cannot wait to start this series!!! 

I don't have them yet! but they are next on my list ;) 

I first found this series a couple of months ago on my sisters Nook! 

and read Winter's Passage, not knowing that this is an e-book exclusive and is to be read after you finish the first book. There is another e-book exclusive, Summer's Passage, to be read after the third book. 

No matter, Winter's Passage introduced me to their Fae world and I need to definitely start from the beginning! I have never been more excited to learn about Faeries :)
All books are available now, hoping there will be a 5th book later this year! 

From Goodreads, The Iron King: 

"Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. 
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. 
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. 
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart."

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3.  Now my next "can't wait" read might just be a rumor...
Stephanie Meyer's The Host was released back in January 2001!!!

10 years later - it seems that this is turning  into a series - 2 more books are in the works!!!
The Soul and The Seeker
I'm hoping for at least one! They're suppose to be released sometime during 2012!!!
She owes us!!!
Especially after... you know...
since she refuses to finish that other book that we so desperately want!

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4. An author who needs no introductions...

The Wolf Gift, release date: 2/14/2012

I am quite positive in my prediction, Rice will re-invent and tell this story like no other ever has.
I have to admit, I haven't read any of her other books since The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches. I have very high hopes for this one, and I know that she won't disappoint me ;)
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5. Look what I found!!! I really need to read this one too!!!
Another book by Lauren Kate, Fallen In Love (To be released 1/24/2012) 

Barnes and Noble is listing this book as part 4 of the Fallen Series, but it's really a 3.5 - it's the type of book that you can pick up at any time to read and 'fall in love' even more with the characters :)

From Barnes and Noble: 
"What makes your heart race a little faster?
Just in time for Valentine's Day, it's Fallen in Love, four wholly original new stories colleted in a new novel set in the Middle Ages by Lauren Kate. Fallen In Love gives fans the must-talked about by never-related stores of Fallen characters as they intertwine with the epic love story of Luce and Daniel." 
The stories include... 
Love Where You Least Expect It: The Valentine of Shelby and Miles 
Love Lessons: The Valentine of Roland 
Burning Love: The Valentine of Arriane 
Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda 
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I didn't think that all of my top books would land in the paranormal genre!
Here are a few quick honorable mentions for 2012,
sometimes you just need a sweet filler here and there, aka non-Paranormal reads:
- I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (2/14/2012)
- Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles (6/5/2012)
- Becoming Edward by Faye Meredith

... and a few children's books that my kiddos and I are looking forward to reading together :)
- Lego Ninjago Chapter Books: Cole and Jay (released yesterday!)
- Dragonbreath Series by Ursula Vernon
- My Mom Hunts Submarines by Julia A Maki (1/24/2012)

Looks like we have a lot of reading to do ;)

Please share what your 'must reads' are for 2012 too!!!
Thanks!!!