Waiting on Wednesday: Morning Star by Pierce Brown

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick for this week is Morning Star by Pierce Brown.

So for the book I have chosen this week I cannot really give you the synopsis, because well, for one, it is the third book in a series so I don't want to ruin the series for you, and, secondly, I couldn't ruin it for you even if I wanted to because there is no synopsis on Goodreads yet. That's probably because the second book has just been released and this does not come out until 2016....TWENTY SIXTEEN!!! But I want it NOW! Yup, I know I cheated, it's technically meant to be soon-to-be-released books but I want it right now so that counts right?

Okay, okay, I know, I admit it, I am 100% obsessed with this series. I never really considered myself a fan girl...UNTIL NOW. This series has everything I look for in a book: non-stop action, complex world building, unique and dynamic characters, clever battle strategies AND a romance that is very believable and very background to the story (okay, mostly non-existent, but that's how I like it).

Below you will find a synopsis for the first book in the series Red Rising and you can read my spoiler-free review here. If you have not heard about the pure awesomeness of this book, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Trust me, you need to check this one out.

   

     Title: Red Rising

     Author: Pierce Brown

     Publisher: Del Ray (Random House)

     Published: January 28th 2014

     Pages: 380

Goodreads Synopsis:

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought. 

Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.

Anyone else totally obsessed with this series? What book are you most anticipating? If you have participated in this meme, leave a link below and I will be sure to check it out.

Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To

So this week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday by the Broke and the Bookish is: Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To. Last year I had these great plans to read all these amazing 2014 releases and lets just say, I did NOT get through very many. I will hopefully make a dent in that pile this year. The list is not at all in order, but, I do explain the books that I am more interested in reading and the ones that I will probably be slow to pick up after loosing interest in them.

(Click on the images to go straight to their Goodreads page to find out more)

1. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

This book received so much hype just before it came out and I was so excited about it. I don't know why I never picked it up, I always meant to but then would end up picking a different book instead of it. This has received fairly mixed reviews so I am in no real rush to read it, but I will hopefully get to it at some point.

2. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

I have to admit that I really enjoy fairy tale re-tellings, an area that I became interested in when I studied Angela Carter's work in Uni (if you like re-tellings check out The Bloody Chamber). This book is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast and this is another one that received a tonne of hype prior to its publication. I have no real reason why I haven't read this one yet and I will get around to it eventually.

3. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

This is another book that have been on the verge of buying many times but keeping putting off. I actually forgot about this book until I reread my post on my Top Ten 2014 Debut releases. This story is set in WWII and I just can't get enough of that time period. I studied history in Uni and this was one of my favourite subjects to learn about, I even went to visit Auschwitz-Birkeneau in Poland. I will hopefully read this book soon as I am still very interested in it.

  

                                             

4. Hexed by Michelle Krys

   I love any kind of paranormal book really, witches, werewolves, vampire, ANYTHING. This is a story about witches, which I actually haven't read much of. It appears to be a more witty and fun story while still drama-packed - have to have a bit of action at all times. Someyimes it is a breath of fresh air to read a more "light-hearted" book as I am more used to reading really heavy action-packed books. This is certainly not very high up on my TBR but I still would like to give this one a go.

5. Midnight Thief by Livia Blackbourne:

Female, kick-ass assassin portagonist, need I say more. I really, really wanted to love Throne of Glass because I love assassins and I love the whole medieval type setting. I, however, really did not like that book even a tiny bit so I am really hoping that this book makes up for the disappointment of ToG. I have heard very mixed reviews about this one though and that has made me very wary of picking this one up. This is another one that won't be an immediate read.

6. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi:

I read the first book in this series (Under the Never Sky) just last year and was very surprised to find that I really enjoyed the book. I do really want to continue on with the series and I have no real excuse for why I haven't read the second book and this one yet but I will certainly be aiming to have them read by the end of the year.

7. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

This book is sitting pretty on my shelf and it is the final book in one of my all time favourite series (The Mortal Instruments) and yet I still have not read it, how? Well, I tried to, and then I got confused, like, really confused and so I thought, hey I will read the book just before this to refresh my memory. Oh but that just caused more confusion as I couldn't remember the book prior to that. So I have realised that I will have to start the whole series again, and this is a big commitment which will have to wait until I complete my Masters degree.

8. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch:

I am really excited for this one and have been since I heard about it. I am a major fan of fantasy, it is easily my favourite genre but I definitely do not read enough from it. I bought this just a couple of days ago while in Edinburgh so I do hope to read it soon.

9. Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott:

My main interest with this book is that it appears to me to be very similar to the Hunger Games. I haven't heard too much about this, but I have seen it floating around booktube a bit. I have very little expectations for this one as I haven't read any reviews on it, which is how I want to go into reading the book. This wouldn't be on the top of my TBR pile but I do want to get to it before the end of the year.

10. Alienated:

The reason I haven't picked this one up yet is simple: I am worried this is going to be the typical YA book over focused on romance. This one has also received a load of hype so I am intrigued to see what I make of it. The second book has either recently been released or will be soon, I am not certain about the dates, and this piqued my interest in Alienated again.

I could easily pick out more then ten books for this topic as I had a pretty bad year for reading last year. I went through a major reading slump in the summer so that drastically affected how many books I read. This year I want to get to some of those books that I missed out on in 2014 and those ten are just a few. Let me know what releases you didn't get a chance to read down below and, if you have a blog post on this topic, leave a link in the comments and I will only be glad to check it out.

My First Feature and Follow Friday

This meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee , just click on their names and follow the links. The point of this meme is to make new friends and gain new followers. There are a few rules to follow when participating in this meme so just click here to find out more.

***I have somehow, very sillily, answered a question from a previous week but as this is my first you might be able to forgive me. If I were to answer the right question I would have said make up and my concert tickets! To read the completely wrong question please continue reading:

Today's feature and follow question is:
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PLACE TO READ? -SUGGESTED BY: Liberamans 

I will pretty much read anywhere, I have no shame at all in whipping out a book in the most unlikely places. If I have to, I will read where there is noise and distraction but I like to avoid this as best I can. So, that really rules out our sitting room for me as there is always someone in there watching TV which I find so distracting. I also, cannot for the life of me read in cars or buses, trains and planes are okay, but if I even read one sentence on a bus or in a car I will get a pounding headache. I am always so jealous of the people I sitting sitting on the bus reading their books because it would be a great way for me to pass the time. I travel to quite often as I live a good hour and a half bus or train ride from my Uni. I will opt for the train if possible more time then not because, lets face it, it is more comfortable and I can read my book happy out. The place I probably read the most is my bedroom as this is the least noisiest place in the house. I tend to just sprawl across my bed and read my book for hours at time (when I can). If I am alone in the house though I much prefer to read in the sitting room, with my little schih tzu beside and, in winter, the fire blazing....bliss.

What is your favourite place to read? Does anyone else have problems reading in the car and on buses? Do let me know in the comments. If you have participated in this meme feel free to leave a link to your post as I would to hear where your favourite place to read is.

My Top Ten Most Anticipated Novels For 2015

So this week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday by the Broke and the Bookish is: Top Ten Most Anticipated Debut Novels of 2015. Last year I really had to research this one as I wasn't sure which debut novels were coming out, and this year I realised I only had two debut authors on my anticipated releases for 2015 shelf on Goodreads. So I have decided to do my top ten anticipated releases of 2015 instead.
If you want to check out all my anticipated releases for 2015 you can find them all on my Goodreads HERE. For now though, here is my top ten:

(Click on the images to go straight to their Goodreads page to find out more)

The final three I want to read do not yet have their covers so here they are:

WINTER by MARISSA MEYER

(Lunar Chronicles series)
LADY MIDNIGHT by CASSANDRA CLARE

(New Shadowhunter series)
UNTITLED by RICK YANCEY

(The final book in the 5th Wave series)

So after reading a quite a few other blog posts featuring debut novels of 2015 I wanted to added the new releases debuts that I hadn't heard of and now want and the ones I forgot!

So, what are your top ten debut or non-debut novels of 2015? If you have participated in this meme be sure to leave a link as I would love to check it out.