Top 10 Characters in 2011

Here I am with my Top 10 Characters in 2011! I cheated a little bit and chose some ensembles from books. Oops.

1. The characters from the Jack Daniels series by J.A. Konrath

Jack Daniels, Phineas Troutt, Harry McGlade, Herb Benedict--I love you all. If I remembered all of your names, that means I really loved you all. 

2. The Warden from the Escape from Furnace series 

by Alexander Gordon Smith

You’re a super creep, but it’s awesome.

3. A from the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard

This series would be nothing without you and your penchant for leaving weird notes.

4. Wendell from the Hero series by Jaime Buckley

Come back into my life! I miss you and your self-deprecating humor.

5. All of the people who submitted to 

Dear Mr. Potter: Letters of Love, Loss, and Magic 

edited by Lily Zalon

You all made my life. I will cherish this book until the end of time.

6. Benny and Tom Imura from the 

Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry

Such a good team. I never thought I would like zombie books. This is huge.

7. The boys from The Maze Runner series by James Dashner

I need to read the final book... like yesterday.

8. The desk from Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

You are also a super creep.

9. Bernie Kosar from the I Am Number Four series by Pittacus Lore

I love you.

10. Sean Griswold’s Head from 

Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt

Never has the back of someone’s head inspired so much thought.

There you go! Who were your favorite characters from 2011?

Top 10 Books I’ve Read in 2011

Sorry these are late--I’ve had an awful cold all week. So I’m going to post Days 1-3 today and then get back to the normal schedule tomorrow. For me, these don’t have to be 2011 releases, but I made them books that I’ve read for the first time in 2011. Also, these are in no particular order since there is no way I could have decided on that!

1. Gone by Michael Grant

This was such a good book and I can’t believe I haven’t started the rest of the series yet. I need to change that in 2012.

2. Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt

I’m sure you’ll see Sean again on my crush list. This was a very, very cute book!

3. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I can’t wait to finish this series. These books leave me with about 1,000 questions. I also don't know why I never review these. Hm.

4. Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith

This book was creepy. Super creepy. Awesome.

5. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Ah, I was obsessed with this book! You’ll probably see this on the cover love post as well.

6. The Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard

Two words: Guilty pleasure.

7. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I never thought I would like a zombie book, but here you go!

8. Stirred by J.A. Konrath

Obsessed with this series and sad that this is the last one. However, I’m glad it was left open for new spin-offs!

9. Hobin Luckyfeller's Fieldguide: Demoni Vankil by Jaime Buckley

These books are awesome. I also find it interesting that half of my list has male lead characters! Yay!

10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Yay for dystopians! I’ve only read the first two, but I must finish these!

This was really hard. I'm going to come at you with the Top 10 Book Covers in 2011 in a little bit and then finish off the day with the Top 10 Book Boyfriends in 2011! Did any of these make your list? Let me know!

Shaken by JA Konrath Review

Title: Shaken (Jack Daniels Mystery #7)

Author: J.A. Konrath

Genre: Mystery, Crime

Page Count: 304 Pages/675 KB

Book Type: Kindle

Publisher: AmazonEncore

ISBN: 0781035597213

AISN: B003M69XAM

Picture from Amazon

Warning, spoilers from the previous...

From Goodreads: Chicago cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has chased, and caught, dozens of dangerous criminals over the course of her career. But she's about to meet her match.

When Jack wakes up in a storage locker, bound and gagged, she knows with chilling certainty who her abductor is.

He's called "Mr. K." More than two hundred homicides have been attributed to him. His victims have died in the most horrible ways imaginable. He's the essence of evil. Some think he's just an urban legend. But he's real. Jack has tangled with him twice in the past, and both times he managed to slip away.

Now Jack will finally have a chance to confront the maniac she's been hunting for over twenty-five years. Unfortunately, it won't be on her terms. In less than two hours, Mr. K is going to do to Jack what he's done to countless others. And Jack is going to learn that sometimes the good guys don't win...

My Review: I always like the covers of these books. All of the covers and titles reference drinks to go along with the main character, Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. It’s funny that this series was one of the ones that got me to read again. I read the first one and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone both in a few days while on vacation. They really couldn’t be any more different.

You can find my review for the 5th Jack Daniels book, Fuzzy Navel, here. In the Kindle version of Shaken, you can either read the book in chronological order or the order in which Konrath wrote it which uses flashbacks. I chose to read this the way Konrath intended.

I really liked getting the chance to go back in time and see the start of Jack’s partnership with Herb. They have one of the best camaraderies in the book world. I love how we can see how this developed over the years. 

This one seemed to be a bit more serious than the previous ones since Jack was kidnapped. I usually prefer the comic relief of Herb and Harry, which did exist, but wasn’t as highlighted in Shaken. This one was an emotional roller coaster. They question the origins of good and evil throughout the novel and it really makes you think. Jack questions what exactly evil is, if evil even exists at all.   

The good thing about all of the flashbacks in this one is that I really think this could work as a standalone novel as well as part of the series. Although it isn’t my favorite of the series, I would say that first time readers could still give it a shot! 

Are you willing to give this series a chance?

Fuzzy Navel by J.A. Konrath Review

Title: Fuzzy Navel
Author: J.A. Konrath
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Page Count: 336
Book Type: Paperback (Owned)
Publisher: Hyperion
ISBN: 9780786891290

*Warning: synopsis will contain some spoilers since this is not the first in a series. You can jump to my review which will be spoiler free!*

From Goodreads: Things are going well for Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department. She has solved some of the city's toughest and most high-profile homicides. Her personal life is finally in order. Her friends and family are safe and happy. And she just got a call that eased her mind like nothing else could: Alex Kork, one of the most dangerous criminals Jack ever arrested, killed herself while in jail.

But things sour quickly when a group of vigilantes on a murderous spree decide to take down a cop and the people she cares about ... and they turn downright awful when Jack discovers that Kork may not be dead after all.

The next eight hours will be the worst of Jack's life. And that's saying something.

Fuzzy Navel is perfect for readers who like their mysteries with a shot of humor.

My Review: If you haven't read this series yet and you like mystery/crime books, you should probably start...just sayin'. They are centered around Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department. I don't want to say too much on the plot here since this is the 5th in the series, but I will say that this was my favorite one. It takes place in roughly 8 hours and you are at a go, go, go pace the whole time. These novels are literally laugh out loud funny while having a heavy plot at the same time. I needed the comedy to stomach some of the murders Jack deals with. The characters, especially her new and old partner, really grabbed my attention and made me fall in love with them (in a you crack me up sort of way). 

Just a warning, the content in these is heavy on the blood and sick murders, but the comedy balances it out nicely, I think. The first one in the series is called Whiskey Sour if you want to check them out. They are all named after drinks and have that drink on the cover. As of now, there are 6 total books.

Has anyone but me heard of this series? Are you willing to give them a try?