#GayIsOk Campaign

In the four years since I started The Nocturnal Library, I've written about some lighthearted topics and some very difficult ones, but none have been as important to me or as close to my heart as the one I'm writing about today.

I am (and always have been) a very determined LGBTQAI ally. It's one of the things I feel most strongly about. We've come a long way, but there's still so much to be done. Being gay is illegal (yes, ILLEGAL) in no less than 75 countries, and in some of them, it's even illegal not to report someone else who happens to be gay. Simply knowing that a family member or friend is gay and not turing them in can get you a one-way ticket to prison. The very idea is heart-wrenching and, quite frankly, despicable.

Middle Grade Recommendations

Hello, nocturnal readers!

Believe it or not, I've been known to recommend a book or two right here on this blog, but this time I'm the one asking for recommendations from trusted readers and friends. *gasp*  My daughter Nika, who turned 8 in March, is a pretty advanced reader in her first language (which is Croatian). She reads well above her grade level and she really loves books, which warms my little heart. 

Just recently, I challenged her to start reading in English, and let me tell you, she may take after her fatherin most other things, but she's her mama's daughter in that she never backs down from a challenge. But we're picky readers, she and I, and now we're looking for recommendations and ideas. 

I've been reading to her in both languages from day one, but the first book she finished in English all on her own was Sideways Stories from Wayside School, which was a gift from my wonderful friend Flannery. She absolutely adored it, and the format (very short connected stories) made it easier for her to follow in a foreign language. 

What I Love About Darynda Jones' Books Is...

Welcome to Darynda Jones week, organized by Piatkus! Really, if there's an author out there who deserves a whole week dedicated to them, it's definitely our Darynda. So when I was offered a chance to share with you my endless love for Darynda and everything she writes, I happily accepted, even though I've been doing precisely that for years already. 

My job today was to list all the things I love about Darynda’s books, but it turned out to be a very difficult task. There are simply too many characters, too many quotes and situations, so much enjoyment and uncontrolled laughter… trying to put it all into a limited number of words proved to be next to impossible. 

It’s no secret that Darynda Jones is one of my favorite authors. She makes me laugh, she makes me swoon, and she occasionally makes me bite my nails while pacing furiously around my living room. In other words, she’s part sadist, part romantic soul and two parts class clown. What’s not to like?

Books for Rainy Days

Summer is almost upon us, but you wouldn't know it just by looking out the window, at least not around here. Rain, thunder, rain, heavy coulds and some more rain, that's pretty much all we see.

I don't know about you, but the weather affects me terribly. Rain usually makes me depressed and withdrawn, and the only thing that can truly pull me out is a funny, low-angst book. Over the years, I've found quite a few favorites I tend to reread when I need to relax, and today I want to share them with you.

Lessons Learned From Strong Heroines

With all the recent controversy surrouding Marvel and their unwillingness to support female superheroes, I've been thinking more and more about genre fiction as a platform where strong female characters have long ago become the norm, and not an exception. I say this with no small amount of smugness - it's pretty clear that we bookish people are always more openminded and ready to accept change. 

My Year in Numbers and Recommendations

Happy New Year, nocturnal readers! I hope you all had the most wonderful time.

2014 has been a very exciting year for me... less so for my blog, unfortunately. I've been busy with so many things last year, and while my career has been taking several exciting turns, The Nocturnal Library oftentimes had to remain neglected.  I have been reading, of course, because anything else would be impossible, but reviewing and commenting took a back seat for a while.

Best of 2013: Young Adult Fiction (+Giveaway)

Hello, and welcome to the last of my Best of 2013 posts. This one was almost impossible to put together; 2013 was such a fabulous year for YA fiction and there were so many reads I wanted to share with you all. Let's start, shall we?

1. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

There are days when I walk around convinced that Maggie Stiefvater isn't human. No regular human could be as imaginative and talented as she is. Consequently, there's no one quite like her in the entire universe. The Dream Thieves  is a book that consumes, that eats you alive and then dreams you back to life. Entirely unpredictable and at times terrifying, it is a book far superior to anything I've read in a very long time.  I took my time with it, savoring each page and thinking through each event so as not to miss even the smallest of details. It isn't a book that should be raced through; it has so many layers to offer and one must really pay attention to notice and appreciate them all.

2. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

In the Shadow of Blackbirds is perhaps my biggest surprise of the year. It is a story about a young girl surrounded by ghosts in October 1918, during the Spanish flu outbreak. The amount of research Winters put into it is staggering, and the many emotional moments will leave no reader indifferent. I was thrilled when it recently got nominated for the William C. Morris award, just as I predicted in my review. All the awards, critical acclaim, and every other recognition Winters might get are well deserved. Read this. 

3. Horde by Ann Aguirre

The words 'epic conclusion' have never been put to better use. Even I, a huge fan of Ann's work and a firm believer in her limitless brilliance, was surprised by the depth and strength she showed in this novel. Horde is mind-blowingly good, friends. It is bloody and dark, violent, but also gentle. Ann gives her characters a chance to shine, to show who they really are. In the never-ending nature vs. nurture debate that is the very center of this trilogy, she shows that nature can overcome just about anything, including a limited and violent upbringing. My heart still swells with the love I feel for these characters and I doubt that will ever go away.

4. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Tahereh Mafi can do no wrong it seems. Unravel Me was a complete shock to my system, so good that I'm still trying to find words worthy of describing it. Love triangles, starcrossed lovers, heroines that make unreasonable choices – those are all things that normally make me cringe, but in Unravel Me, Mafi made them all work. My heart was broken so many times, and I think I went through five stages of grief and a whole lot of (sugar-free) ice cream, and I still barely survived this book. If I could somehow quantify the emotional impact all my favorite books had on me, Unravel Me would certainly be at the very top. 

Mafi is a brilliant writer, and as such, she deserves all the hype that surrounds her. I'm desperate to learn how this trilogy ends, but I'm terrified of it at the same time. There's a month left until the release of Ignite Me. Join this party if you haven't already.

5. The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I cried and I cried and I cried until my eyes hurt and my heart broke. I feel like I haven't stopped crying since. I started reading this with trepidation in my heart, not trusting Clare to handle it well, and while I wasn't happy with some of it, it was incredibly emotional overall.  This is a book that will leave you exhausted but unwilling to leave the world Clare has created. I think #1 spot on the New York Times Bestsellers list, #2 spot on the USA Today Bestsellers list and #1 spot on the Publisher’s Weekly Bestsellers list tell you all you need to know about this book. It is a definite proof of how many lives this hurricane touched.

6. Bruised by Sarah Skilton

If you read this blog on a semi-regular basis, you know I generally avoid contemporary YA, but making an exception for Bruised was one of the best decisions I ever made. Aside from being a brilliant author, Skilton shows an admirable understanding of human psyche. Her Imogen is incredibly realistic, and her approach brutally honest and realistic. This book is a must-read. 

7. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Set in New Orleans in the 1950's, Out of the Easy is a murder mystery first, a coming of age story second, and about twenty other things in between. It is a story of great complexity, and yet paradoxically, it is also a very simple one. Sepetys has a unique talent that allows her to pull her readers right into her story, turning them into more than willing participants. Her writing style is so clear, so completely transparent that it never gets in the way of the story. At the moment, Sepetys has two books on my all-time favorites list. I can't wait to see what she does next.

8. Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Even after being slightly disappointed by Into the Still Blue, the long-awaited conclusion of this trilogy, Through the Ever Night remains one of the best middle books I've ever read. There are things in Through the Ever Night that will make you laugh, things that will make you cry, things that will make you inch up nervously in your seat, some that will make you angry enough to punch something (hopefully not someone, though), and things that will make you swoon. Now, aren’t those signs of a perfect read?


9. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Really, 2013? This is what you throw at me? Excruciating pain and heartbreak? Well, thank you very much! While I thoroughly enjoyed Ismae's story in Grave Mercy, Sybella's left me half-broken and sobbing. But aside from the very chatartic experience, another good thing came from this book: Robin LaFevers proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a love interest need not be handsome, with a crooked smile. Sybella's Beast is ... well, beast! And his physical appearance doesn't improve as the story progresses. But like Sybella herself, we learn to look past the ugliness and notice the beauty of his soul.

10. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Is Brandon Sanderson for real? Steelheart is the only one of his books I've read so far, but this dude can write! For Steelheart, he borrowed the basic idea from Marvel and DC, the only difference being that his superheroes – Epics, as he calls them – aren’t here to save anyone; they’re here to take whatever they want exactly when they want it. In Sanderson’s world, law of the jungle is the only law that still applies. 

I thought Sanderson did a wonderful job with David, his protagonist. For a teen boy, he was both observant and fairly wise, but I loved that he never stopped being a teenager with raging hormones, prone to rash decisions and careless behavior. Highly recommended.

A few more books I need to mention:
World After by Susan Ee
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
Angelbound by Christina Bauer

Aaaand that's all folks!
Giveaway time!!

Enter to win one of these beauties, from The Book Depository. The giveaway is, of course, international.
Good luck!

Oh, and btw, my beautiful banner was created by Le Non Design.

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Best of 2013: Adult Fiction (+ Giveaway)

Hi, and welcome to my second Best of 2013 post! Today I'm sharing with you my favorite adult reads of 2013, and let me tell you, there were so many amazing books this year! Although the number of adult books I've read is significantly smaller than the number of my YA reads, it was still extremely difficult to choose which 10 to point out.  

I hope you'll all find something new and interesting to add to your tbr.

1. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season was actually marketed as YA, but I tend to disagree. As I pointed out in my review, The Bone Season is intricate and richly imaginative, one of the very few titles completely worthy of the hype. All the relationships in this book, and especially that of the protagonist and her keeper, Arcturus, are extraordinarily well done. The Bone Season is, hands down, my favorite adult release in 2013 and in my top 3 books overall. 

If you have yet to aquire a copy, I highly recommend the audio version. With her superb narration, Alana Kerr turned The Bone Season into what is surely one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to.

2. Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Written in Red is yet another audiobook that completely blew me away last year. Bishop is a master storyteller. It should be mentioned that Written in Red leans more towards the fantasy part of urban fantasy. In fact, if we take the strictest definition, it’s not urban fantasy at all. In Written in Red, we familiarize ourselves with Thasia and its inhabitants. In Thasia, Others live in compounds where they govern themselves and human laws don’t apply. Their contact with humans is extremely limited, which is for the best. Any human who breaks a law of the Others ends up eaten or worse. This is a fascinatingly dark world built by an experienced and talented author.

3. Bronze Gods by Ann and Andres Aguirre

Bronze Gods gave me everything I could ever want from steampunk: a well-defined world, age-appropriate language and more than a few creative gadgets. This, my friends, is steampunk noir at its best, with fantastic worldbuilding, characters I fell in love with almost instantly, crime scenes worthy of Patricia Cornwell, clockwork, LOTS of sexual tension and a heart-stopping conclusion. All in a single book!

Although I don't usually organize blog tours nor do I aspire to do so in the future, when Ann (and Andres) asked me to put together a tour for this beauty (well, actually, I offered), I was more than happy to do it. I would, once again, like to thank my friends for helping me turn the tour into a huge success.

4. Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods  is a definite step up for Richelle Mead. It is her most ambitious project in terms of worldbuilding and structure, though perhaps not the plot. Mead’s futuristic world is divided between two great forces: RUNA (Republic of the United North America) and EA (Eastern Alliance). Everything else are the provinces, barbaric in comparison, technologically and culturally inferior. Mead could never be accused of lack of imagination, but with Gameboard of the Gods, she outdid herself in more ways than one, and for the most part, she held a tight control over all the bits and pieces. It was only at moments that the worldbuilding became too big for her and confusing for the reader. There is nothing more important to me than character development, and Mead’s thorough approach to it left me in awe. While Gameboard of the Gods could prove to be a bit challenging for less patient readers, it was a great read according to my taste and a promising start to an exciting new series.

5. Parasite  by Mira Grant

After the Newsflesh trilogy, which just happens to be my favorite trilogy of all time, it's safe to say I expected a lot from Mira Grant's new project. While Parasite doesn't come close to being as brilliant and emotionally demanding as Feed, it is still the work of a great author. Grant takes so many risks with her prose, and far more often than not, those risks pay off. This is a book about tapewarms and as such, it can be hard to swallow at times, but if you can handle a tapeworm here and there, run out and get your copy right now. This science fiction medical thriller is not to be missed.

6. Wrong Ways Down by Stacia Kane

It’s safe to say that Wrong Ways Down is the best thing that happened to urban fantasy in a very long time. With this long-awaited, anxiously anticipated and rather longish novella told from Terrible’s POV, Stacia Kane gave her readers exactly what they desperately needed – a glimpse into the complicated psyche of a well-beloved character. If you know anything about Stacia’s books, you might have noticed that she doesn’t have almost-fans or lukewarm readers. People either hate or love her books, but for those who have loved the previous five novels, Wrong Ways Down will seem like a gift from heaven. Not only do we get to see the inner workings of Terrible’s mind, but we get to see Chess through his eyes: a beautiful, confident and well-put-together version of her.

Wrong Ways Down is actually the length of a short novel, and brilliant to boot so if $3.99 seems like a lot to pay for a novella, trust me, it's not.


7. Perdition  by Ann Aguirre 

Perdition is another brilliant adult release but one of my favorite authors, pitched as Prison Break in space. It's a spin-off of her Siranhta Jax series but it can be read entirely independently. This book is full of violence and mayhem, Ann Aguirre-style, and set in space to boot. What more could one possibly wish for?! Excellent, well-rounded characters? Romance? Well, there's all that, too, and more. Space station known as Perdition houses only the most hardened of criminals. The people imprisoned there are no small-time thieves, rapists or murderers. It takes a truly heinous crime (or hundreds of them) to get someone a one-way ticket to Perdition from the Conglomerate. ‘Innocent’ is not a word that gets thrown around often, not even for our heroine, Dresdemona “Dred” Devos.



8. Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs 

Frost Burned is the long-awaited 7th installment in her #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson series. In Frost Burned, Patty introduced Adam's perspective for the first time - a risky move that certainly paid off in the end. She proved, yet again, why she's one of the best urban fantasy writers out there and that she can handle just about anything her characters ask of her.
Patty was here in October to talk about body language, at my suggestion. She explained why body language matters so much with werewolves and where the idea and the knowledge came from.



9. Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones

Fifth Grave needs very little in terms of publicity and/or explanations. She is a superstar, and so is our Charley - rightfully so. Fifth Grave brings significant changes to the series through Charley's boyfriend and everyone's favorite hunk of burning love, Reyes Farrow. I always thought Reyes was too otherworldly and untouchable to serve as a proper book boyfriend, but in Fifth Grave, Darynda really took him a step further. She took him well past his usual glowering and threatening and added humor and just a touch of vulnerability. The end result is a more human, approachable Reyes, finally Charley’s match not just in otherworldly matters (and, ummm, in bed), but in day to day things as well.

10. Banishing the Dark by Jenn Bennett

All my favorite urban fantasy series have a strong couple at the center: Kate and Curran, Mercy and Adam, Charley and Reyes, and of course, Cady and Lon. To make things even better, there's Jupe, Lon's pre-teen and absolutely hilarious son.
This is a series that surprises me with each new installment, one I never saw coming. Jenn Bennett is a fabulous author who knows her characters (and her readers) extremely well.
If you have yet to read this series, hurry up and do it. Maybe you'll win a copy here. :)


Aaaand that's all folks! I hope you see something you like.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Enter to win one of these pretties from The Book Depository. If you're interested in starting a series from this list, you can always choose to win the first installment (or any installment, really). Just enter the Rafflecopter and keep your fingers crossed.

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Best of 2013: Book Covers! (+ Giveaway)

Welcome to my first Best of 2013 post! Today I'll share with you my favorite book covers. Choosing such a small number was no small feat, my friends, but I managed. I hope you'll like my choices.

 

 

  

 

 

For me, the absolute winner in 2013 is Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. The cover is gorgeous, different and slightly edgy, just like the book itself. Just looking at it makes my throat constrict! This is a book that made me feel every single emotion I'm capable of feeling and I suppose the cover brings some of that back to the surface.
Brenna Yovanoff has been very good to the cover gods (and to the people at Razorbill) because she always gets the best ones. Remember The Space Between and that silver gorgeousness all over the front cover? Paper Valentine is perhaps my least favorite of her covers, but it's still pretty extraordinary.
Kiersten White had two fabulous covers in 2013 - The Chaos of Stars and Mind Games - but in the end, I went with this. I hope you all agree with me.
How to Lead a Life of Crime stands out a bit from the rest, but I love it because it reflects the mood of the novel perfectly.
The rest, I think, need no explanations. Just looking at them is enough.

Giveaway Time!!!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win one of these pretties. In addition to being beautiful, they are all excellent novels. The giveaway is, of course, international, i.e. anywhere The Book Depository ships.
Good Luck!!
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My gorgeous banner was created by Le Non Design. Visit their website at www.le-non-com for more info!

Once again, Happy New Year everyone!

My Year in Books

Hello, my darlings, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope you had the most wonderful time, and wish you all a year filled with hope, love, laughter, and many, many books.

It's so good to be back from my short break. I needed it badly, but I need you guys even more. :)

Methinks it's the perfect time to look back at all I've accomplished, both in reading and blogging, and what could have been better. So here goes.

I read 253 books in 2013, somewhat less than in 2011 or 2012, but it's still a number I'm very happy with.
In this case, 253 books equal 76240 pages read, not counting the audiobooks, and there were many. When put like that, the number is staggering.
Only 8 of those books (around 3%) got a clean 5-star rating  and there were about 10 more with a 4.5 star-rating.

Here are my 5-star reads in 2013:

Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Wrong Ways Down by Stacia Kane

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Don't be surprised by the absence of Horde or Bronze Gods by Ann Aguirre on my list. Neiher is included because I was lucky enough to beta read both as she was writing them in 2012. But they are PERFECT!

Here are some of the things I'd like to point out:

Favorite female characters: Josie Moraine (Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys) and Charley Davidson (Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones).

Favorite male characters: Richard Gansey III (The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater) and Terrible (Wrong Ways Down by Stacia Kane).

Book that made me cry the most: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Favorite debut: In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (Nominated for the William C. Morris award!)

What took me by surprise: Written in Red by Anne Bishop. Also, Bruised by Sarah Skilton.

Best book out of my comfort zone: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Disappointment of the year: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. 

Favorite quote:

“A secret is a strange thing.

There are three kinds of secrets. One is the sort everyone knows about, the sort you need at least two people for. One to keep it. One to never know. The second is a harder kind of secret: one you keep from yourself. Every day, thousands of confessions are kept from their would-be confessors, none of these people knowing that their never-admitted secrets all boil down to the same three words: I am afraid.

And then there is the third kind of secret, the most hidden kind. A secret no one knows about. Perhaps it was known once, but was taken to the grave. Or maybe it is a useless mystery, arcane and lonely, unfound because no one ever looked for it.

Sometimes, some rare times, a secret stays undiscovered because it is something too big for the mind to hold. It is too strange, too vast, too terrifying to contemplate.

All of us have secrets in our lives. We’re keepers or keptfrom, players or played. Secrets and cockroaches — that’s what will be left at the end of it all.” 

― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

Tomorrow, I'll be posting my favorite covers in 2013, and after that, my favorite adult releases and my favorite YA books released in 2013. All posts will include international giveaways. I hope you'll stop by to check them out.

January 3rd:

January 4th:

January 6th:

All banners created by Le Non Design.

Again, happy new year, my lovelies. Please share your favorites in the comments.

Merry Christmas!

Friends,

Christmas is the most important holiday in my family. We've had some good years and some bad years, but we always try to spend it together, with peace and joy in our hearts. If you're celebrating today, Merry Christmas to you and yours! If you're not, I hope you're having a joyful day regardless.

Photo by Virginie Millour

Seeing as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in my country, Christmas is when I take some time to reflect on all the things I'm grateful for. I'd like to share at least some of those things with you, and I hope each of you will mention at least one of yours in the comments.

Above all else, I am grateful for my daughter, my nieces and nephew, and the rest of my huge and loving family. They unflinchingly support me in everything I do and my life would have no meaning without them. I am also eternally grateful for my love, whose presence in my life has been such a blessing from the start. He knows me exactly for who I am and loves me anyway, both when I'm at my best and when I'm at my worst.

Every day, I'm grateful for being able to do what I love, and do it well. I feel that I'm living up to my full potential, and it's a heady, wonderful feeling.

I am, of course, grateful for my two years with you, for each and every one of your visits and comments. We are the best community in the world, and I have no words to express how much you all mean to me and how The Nocturnal Library has shaped my life.

I am also grateful for books, System of a Down and red nail polish. Please don't judge me for this last one, I can be shallow like that sometimes. ;)

I will now quit my rambling and go eat instead.

Again, Merry Christmas to you and to your families.
Here's a song that always makes me cry.



With love,

Apologies and Congrats

Hello, my beloved nocturnal librarians!

I'll start with apologies, shall I? I apologize profusely to every single one of you for practically disappearing off the face of the Earth. It's been a hectic time on my little piece of the planet, what with moving (which is always hard, but it's downright disastrous for someone as resistant to change as I am), kids starting school, going back to the Uni after a long and rather enjoyable vacation...

Here's a photo of me and my first grader in front of our new home. :)

Sorry if it's a bit blurry, my phone is not the best choice for taking pics.

Anyway, I apologize again for leaving my virtual kingdom unattended. You know I love you guys and I missed you every day.

As for the congrats part, here goes:

Congratulations to Misti S, winner of The Last Hurrah giveaway here at The Nocturnal Library. She chose to receive The Distance Between Us by Kasie West (an excellent choice, if you ask me) and her prize has been sent to her from The Book Depository.

Aaaand that's all, folks! Tomorrow, I'll be reviewing one of my favorite 2013 releases, Perdition by Ann Aguirre, and on Tuesday, Night Witches by L.J. Adlington. After that, it's anyone's guess. :) But I WILL be reviewing and commenting and spending time with you lovelies, because you make me happy. 

See you around the blogosphere! 

Maja 

Vacation Time!

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I'll be on vacation until Wednesday, August 14th, with very limited Internet access. I'll do my best to find a connection every now and then to see what you guys are up to, and of course I'll miss you all, but I'm going to enjoy some family time and hopefully some peace and quiet, although the latter is almost impossible with my family in tow.

In almost two years since I started The Nocturnal Library, I've never been away from it for more than two days, so this is kind of like leaving your teen kid home alone - terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

Can someone please hold my hand?

Here's a pic to give you an idea of where I'm going:

And since this is a book blog, here's what I'll be reading while on vacation:

    

   

Bye everyone! See you soon!