Reading List: Chanda Hahn

It is not every day that someone you know tops the charts on Amazon and iTunes books. But Chanda Hahn did and I know her!

Humble brag over...

Chanda works with my parents and when my mom told me how her books were racing up the charts I quickly downloaded a copy. Before I knew it I was sucked into her An Unfortunate Fairy Tale series and began devouring them as quickly as she could write them.

The series has a similar theme as the popular tv show Grimm except the main character is a high school girl and she is fighting to break the grimm fairy tale curse on her family.

Chanda has done an excellent job of creating a story that a reader can get lost in, and then be mesmerized by to read cover to cover in one sitting. The best part? Her kindle books are priced well below $5 and the first book in the series is FREE.

See? Now you have no excuse not to read them.

Start the series with UnEnchanted now.

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Reading List: Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell, is easily one of the best books that I read this year.

It is a story of an outcast and a boy barely in the popular group who find themselves slowly becoming friends during their short bus ride to school each morning.

This book felt very real. I understand how cruel kids can be and how little grace they can exhibit just because they are unaware of their actions. In this story we meet a girl who has a terrible home situation that has made her an outcast in school and a boy who against his will shares a seat with her (jeopardizing his popularity). That first step and subsequent sharing of a bus seat everyday starts a friendship that ultimately makes them better people. It shows that although kids can be oblivious, they have the ability to do the right thing and be kind to those less fortunate.

This book will teach you to pay attention to those around you and not be so quick to judge.

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Reading List: Steelheart

Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson, is one of my favorite books that I have read this year. I usually lean towards love stories rather than sci-fi action books but I was enthralled in this novel from the get-go.

This series is similar to X-Men  and Heroes in that some people have extended powers and others don't. But in this world, the ones with super powers are ruling the world at the expense of everyone else. Grab a copy of the book and follow a group of people who are trying to right society and level out power structures.

Be warned... this is only book 1 of a series that doesn't come out until 2014.

What I read: June

After June's reads, I am at 15 books read for the year. A long way to 50 but I am pacing myself at 4 books for month and on my way to meeting my resolution.

Do you have must reads that you finished in June or would love to share? Send recommendations my way!

These are the books I read in June:

What I Read: May

(Image courtesy of Organised Housewife)

I have a vivid imagination. I remember being on the playground when I was 8 years old leading my troop of friends in a race against time to save a damsel from her captor. We always saved her but the next day she found herself captured again.

That creative spirit is what led me to my love of books. My parents often took my sister and I to the library to fill our bags with new reads and taught me very early to appreciate the story.

Now I love to read because I am not only able to read the words but create the visual in my head. All books have the potential to move you but very few have the ability to transport you into another place.

As I hold to my resolution of reading 50 books this year, I am slow to start. The year is nearly halfway over and I have only read 10.

What I Read: January

My sister, Ashley, is the kids & teens' book marketing manager for one of the top e-commerce sites and is always bringing me books that will be the next best thing or is the current top read. The books I read in January are all books that she dropped on my doorstep as "must reads" or books that found their way to her from other teams at work:

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
This book is currently on Ashley's radar and gaining momentum. Once I got my hands on a copy, I understood why...It is a very easy read about a mysterious girl who travels between the world we know and the underworld. (Or otherworld as we not quite sure what all she is involved in.)

The size of this book may intimidate you but I read it in a day as it is easy to devour. At first, it was challenging to get into it as you are immediately introduced to characters and worlds that it seems you are should understand but as the pages turn more and more is revealed just in time to suck you in until the end... or until you can get your hands on the next in the series.

The Absolutist by John Boyne
This is a story of two soldiers who are fighting in World War I and falling in love with each other at a time when homosexuality was illegal.

This book was heartbreaking due to the self hatred and loathing these characters experienced. This isn't a light read by any means but if you start to read it, one you must read until the end.

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
I could have sworn Ashley said that the Daughter of Smoke & Bone had a sequel... not two following books... which why I was eager to read this and finish the story that I started. Much like the first book, it follows the same character as she dives more in to the underworld to save .... something. (I don't want to give it away!)

But please know: there are 3 books in this series. Don't be a dimwit like me and think that this ending will be solved because it was yet another cliff hanger.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winter
The world is ending and society has given up. Most of society has given up... this book is a about a policemen during the end of the world who is still trying to solve crimes and save people even though no one else cares.

When I read this book, I got caught up in the mystery but halfway through the book got in its own way. More twists and turns were introduced and the plot got over complicated. I would read this book if you happen to be poolside in Mexico but save it on the shelf until then.