Hedgie's Must Reads: November 2013

This month has been crazy! What with being newly employed at a bookstore (a childhood dream come true!) and the Christmas season nearly upon us, I'm not sure how I found time to read! But I did. Poor Hedgie was ill the past few weeks. He had some problems with mites - nothing severe, but his skin was a little sore. So I curled up with him every moment I got to read through books while his mite medicine did its magic. That was several weeks back, though, and Hedgie is much better now - well enough to help me pick the top reads of November.

Catching Fire

Books to Movies is a feature where I review movies based off books! These reviews are for people who have read the book, so spoilers are definitely within.

Rated: PG-13

Review: The Royal Ranger - John Flanagan

The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

Series: Ranger's Apprentice #12

Genre: YA, adventure

Published on November 5, 2013

Published by Philomel

Pages: 464

Read From: 11.18.13 - 11.22.13

SYNOPSIS

Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend - the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. 

Waiting on Wednesday #25

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Top Ten Tuesday #22

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For. Because this is a literary blog, I'm going to stick with the top 10 literary-related things I'm thankful for.

Review: Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent Trilogy #3
Genre: YA, dystopian
Published on October 22, 2013
Published by Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 526
Read From: 11.14.13 - 11.16.13











SYNOPSIS

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

Stacking the Shelves #24

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Review

Weekend Recommendations #26

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Review: The Twistrose Key - Tone Almhjell

The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell

Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy

Published on October 22, 2013

Published by Dial

Pages: 336

Read From: 11.10.13 - 11.13.13

SYNOPSIS

Something is wrong in the house that Lin's family has rented; Lin is sure of it. The clocks tick too slowly. Frost covers the flower bed, even in a rainstorm. And when a secret key marked "Twistrose" arrives for her, Lin finds a crack in the cellar, a gate to the world of Sylver. 

Review: Boy Nobody - Allen Zadoff

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff
Series: Boy Nobody #1
Genre: YA, action
Published on June 11, 2013
Published by Little Brown
Pages: 337
Read From: 11.9.13 - 11.10.13











SYNOPSIS

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die - of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target. 

Waiting on Wednesday #24

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Top Ten Tuesday #21

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Top 10 Books I'd Recommend To X Person (my choice: my friend Hazel. Because she's so easy to recommend things to!). Many of these I've already recommended to her, and hopefully she enjoyed them all. :-) Some of these I haven't recommended yet, either (keep forgetting), so Hazel - you might want to read this if you're looking for more reads!

Review: The Unnaturalists - Tiffany Trent

The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

Series: The Unnaturalists #1

Genre: YA, alternate reality, fantasy, steampunk

Published on August 14, 2012

Published by Simon & Schuster

Pages: 308

Read From: 11.8.13 - 11.9.13

SYNOPSIS

Vespa Nyx wants nothing more than to spend her life cataloging Unnaturals in her father's Museum of Unnatural History. There is nothing she enjoys more than studying a stuffed Sphinx, or mounting a delicate sylphid. But as she nears seventeen, the dreaded need to become respectable, find a husband, and settle down looms heavily. Just as she is resigning herself to a mundane life, a series of mysterious accidents reveals a terrifying truth: Vespa may be New London's only surviving witch. And in New London, witchcraft is the greatest imaginable heresy, punishable by death. 

Stacking the Shelves #23

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Review

Guest Post: Bookish Pet Peeves

It's November, and therefore it's time for another guest post! This month's topic: bookish pet peeves! What are some physical things about books that irritate you? Is it a certain type of binding? Spine damage? Rough-cut pages? Whatever it is, why does it tick you off so much? Three of my good book friends agreed to join The Reading Hedgehog once again on sharing some of their bookish pet peeves!

ARC Review: Rags & Bones - Melissa Marr

A  copy was provided by the publisher

in exchange for

an honest review.

Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales by Melissa Marr & Others

Genre: YA, classic retelling

Published on October 22, 2013

Published by Little Brown

Pages: 368

Read From: 11.3.13 - 11.8.13

SYNOPSIS

Literature is filled with sexy, deadly, and downright twisted tales. In this collection, award-winning and bestselling authors reimagine their favorite

Review: City of a Thousand Dolls - Miriam Forster

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Series: Bhinian Empire #1

Genre: YA, fantasy

Published on February 5, 2013

Published by Harper Teen

Pages: 359

Read From: 11.1.13 - 11.3.13

SYNOPSIS

Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a little girl. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. She makes her way as Matron's errand girl, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city's handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die. 

Waiting on Wednesday #23

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Top Ten Tuesday #20

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Top 10 Covers I Wish I Could Redesign. Let's pull out the old books, shall we? Some of these may have already been redesigned and I just don't know it. But chances are, I don't like the new covers, either. :-)

Ender's Game

Books to Movies is a feature where I review movies based off books! These reviews are for people who have read the book, so spoilers are definitely within.

Rated: PG-13

Stacking the Shelves #22

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Review

Weekend Recommendations #25

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Review: Starglass - Phoebe North

Starglass by Phoebe North

Series: Starglass #1

Genre: YA, science fiction

Published on July 23, 2013

Published by Simon & Schuster

Pages: 448

Read From: 10.26.13 - 10.28.13

SYNOPSIS

Terra has never known anything but life aboard the Asherah, a city-within-a-spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago in search of refuge. At sixteen, working a boring job and living with a grieving father who only notices her enough to yell, Terra is sure that there has to be more to life than what she's got. 

Review: Risked - Margaret Peterson Haddix

Risked by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Series: The Missing #6

Genre: Middle Grade, time travel

Published on September 3, 2013

Published by Simon & Schuster

Pages: 320

Read From: 10.26.13 - 10.26.13

SYNOPSIS

Jonah and Katherine find out that Daniella, one of the missing children from history, is actually Anastasia Romanov. They need to return her to early twentieth-century Russia - during the Russian Revolution - and save

Waiting on Wednesday #22

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Top Ten Tuesday #19

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Top 10 Sequels I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On! There are, somewhat surprisingly, a large number of sequels I can't wait to read, and not all of them are coming soon releases. Some of them are just sequels that I haven't gotten around to reading yet - but I will!

Review: The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Genre: YA, historical fiction
Published on March 14, 2006
Published by Knopf Books
Pages: 552
Read From: 10.21.13 - 10.24.13











SYNOPSIS

"It's just a small story, really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . ." 

Stacking the Shelves #21

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Review

Author Visit: Maggie Stiefvater

October 4th - University Bookstore in Seattle, Washington. In celebration of the release of Book #2 in Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series (The Dream Thieves), Maggie went on a tour! And I was lucky enough to go meet her and my copies of The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, and The Scorpio Races signed. I meant to have this post up a long time ago, but life got busy for both myself and my photographer (a big thanks to my friend Rachel again!). I've only just had time to put this up!

Review: A Moment Comes - Jennifer Bradbury

A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury

Genre: YA, historical fiction

Published on June 25, 2013

Published by Atheneum Books

Pages: 288

Read From: 10.19.13 - 10.21.13

SYNOPSIS

While the rest of India anxiously awaits the upcoming partition that will divide the country into two sovereign nations, eighteen-year-old Tariq focuses on his own goal: to study at Oxford. He simply must find a way in, to fulfill his grandfather's dreams, and his own. But for a Muslin born and raised in India, there is no obvious path to England - until Tariq is offered a job, translating for one of the British cartographers stationed in India and tasked with establishing the new borders. In a flash, he accepts the position, determined to use this new contact as his way to Oxford.